📅 10-12 July 2026
African Development Bank Headquarters (CCIA), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
From 10 to 12 July, the African Development Bank Group, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), are co-organising the African Economic Conference 2026 in Abidjan. The event will also feature the annual gathering of the Global Network of Chief Economists of Development and Financing Institutions, and the launch of the African Chief Economists Network (ACE-Network), bringing together leading economic thinkers and policymakers from across Africa and beyond.
The theme of the 2026 African Economic Conference (AEC), ‘Strengthening Africa’s Geopolitical Agency and Trade Resilience in a Multipolar World’, offers an opportunity for stakeholders to engage in frank dialogue on how Africa can enhance its autonomy in a rapidly changing global economy. Since its inception in 2006, the African Economic Conference series has served as a platform for intellectual exchange, policy dialogue, and collaboration on Africa’s development challenges and priorities among policymakers, researchers, development practitioners, and academic institutions
The event will also feature the annual in-person meeting of the Global Network of Chief Economists of International Development Agencies and Finance Institutions, held in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which hosts the Secretariat for the Network.
The African Development Bank will also host a graduation ceremony for the second cohort of the Public Finance Management Academy for Africa (PFMA) and the first cohort of the Macroeconomic Policy Management Academy for Africa (MEMA). Officials from more than 36 countries are expected to receive certificates in public finance management and macroeconomic policy management practices.