2025 Conference

2025 Logo The 2025 AVPA Conference convened changemakers, policymakers, investors, philanthropists, and development actors dedicated to advancing impactful social investment across Africa.

The 2025 edition was held from 3rd to 5th November at the Trademark Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme "Driving Sustainable Investments and Innovations for Resilient Growth."

This global gathering explored how Africa can harness catalytic capital and scale impactful social enterprises to foster meaningful, lasting development across the continent.

Key Highlights

Launch of Africa’s first Catalytic Pooled Fund to drive Mental Health Investment, through AVPA's partnership with the Coalition for Mental Health Investment.
Under the AVPA Impact Safari 2025 umbrella, we had 7 side events and 8 excursions as part of the conference experience. During the conference, over 44 sessions were held which included masterclasses, panels, and workshops featuring industry leaders and changemakers.
Structured networking sessions fostering cross-sector collaborations and funding partnerships.
Representation from 40 countries and participation from over 20 sectors within the ecosystem

2025 Sponsors

Keynote Speakers

Adedotun Sulaiman
Pan-African Board Chair and AVPA Chief Executive Officer
Vimal Shah
Chairman of Bidco Africa
British Robinson
Chair, Africa Milken Institute
Isaac Awuondo
Chairman NCBA Bank Kenya PLC
Joseph Ogutu
East Africa Board Chair AVPA/Safaricom Foundation
Dr. Frank Aswani
CEO, AVPA
Sanda Ojiambo
Assistant Secretary-General United Nations Global Compact

2025 Partners

Featured Panels, Workshops and Masterclasses

Visionary Leadership & Economic Transformation - What macroeconomic and sectoral trends can Africa leverage to foster resilience, sovereignty, and inclusive growth?
Lessons & Future Strategies for Sustainable Growth -How can African economies shift from aid-dependency to locally anchored, sustainable development models?
Strengthening Domestic Capital Markets - What financial instruments, institutions, and reforms are needed to unlock and channel domestic resources toward impact?
Policy Innovation to Attract Private Capital -How can governments and regulators design investment-friendly environments that catalyze long-term, responsible private investment?

Blended Finance Structures that combine concessional and commercial capital to drive inclusive innovation.
Case Studies of Capital Efficiency—showcasing how catalytic investments have scaled social enterprises, infrastructure, and essential services.
Cross-Sector Collaboration to foster alignment between investors, governments, and mission-aligned donors.
Strategic Engagement with Pension Funds, FMCGs, and Financial Institutions to co-create investment platforms that align returns with impact.

Impact-Aligned Investment Models, including equity, debt, and hybrid instruments tailored for social enterprises and SMEs.
Blended Finance Lessons from ASIEx and Similar Structures, demonstrating successful catalytic models across the continent.
Unlocking Growth in Strategic Sectors—with a spotlight on renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and financial inclusion. For instance, Africa's energy transition alone has drawn $50 billion in pledged investments, targeting reliable energy access for 300 million people by 2030.
Public-Private-Philanthropic Collaboration to amplify impact, scale solutions, and ensure long-term sustainability.

Tech for Good: Technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), is rapidly transforming key sectors in Africa, offering scalable solutions to long-standing development challenges. From expanding financial access to enhancing healthcare and climate resilience, AI is already making a measurable impact
Jobs and the Future of Work: These sessions will examine the evolving landscape of jobs in the creative industries and job tech, highlighting innovative models that drive employment and economic growth. As technology reshapes the workforce, job tech solutions are bridging skill gaps, expanding access to opportunities, and enhancing employability.
Gender-Smart Investing & Digital Financial Inclusion: Expanding gender-lens investment frameworks is essential for driving equity and economic empowerment. This session will explore the transformative role of AI and fintech in closing the gender gap in financial access, drawing insights from initiatives like the 2X Challenge, which has mobilized over $16 billion for women-focused businesses.

Agriculture: A cross-cutting driver of food security, livelihoods, and sustainable economic growth
Education: Advancing inclusive, future-ready education systems that equip Africa's next generation with the skills, knowledge, and leadership needed to drive sustainable development and innovation
Climate Finance and Resilient Energy Systems in Africa - Discussions focused on innovative financing models and partnerships to accelerate the transition to clean, reliable energy infrastructure that supports climate adaptation, economic growth, and long-term resilience across the continent
Health: Investing in resilient, accessible, and inclusive healthcare systems for all on the African continent

Side Events

Across the world, Impact Week has become a defining moment for the impact investing community, a time when investors, philanthropists, and changemakers come together to align capital with purpose and accelerate sustainable solutions.

In Africa, this global momentum takes on a uniquely vibrant form through the AVPA Impact Safari 2025, a journey through Africa’s growing community of impact innovators, investors, and enablers, all working to bridge capital and catalyse change.

Hosted by AVPA impact partners, these events encouraged learning, connection, and collaboration, featuring high-level dialogues, immersive sessions, innovation showcases, and case studies that brought impact to life.

From blended finance to catalytic capital, climate resilience to tech for inclusion, the Impact Safari invited participants to experience the 2025 AVPA conference, preceded by and followed by immersive events designed to complement and deepen the conference theme.

Field Excursions

Showcasing Innovation and Impact

To complement the conference discussions, we organized for "Impact in Action" excursions. These trips gave participants the chance to experience firsthand the initiatives, enterprises and communities driving impact on the ground. The excursions highlighted innovative approaches, real-world challenges and opportunities for collaboration.