NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Navigating the Next Wave: AI, Innovation, and Health for All

About the Global Digital Health Forum

GDHF is the leading global public health industry networking and relationship-building opportunity for technology vendors, donors, researchers, government representatives, and implementing organizations working in emerging markets.

The Pulse of Fintech
Africa’s Premier Gathering for Fintech Visionaries
The Africa Fintech Meetup is a one-day premier gathering of fintech leaders, decision-makers, regulators, startups, and financial institutions, uniting to advance digital finance across the continent.

The 2026 edition in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia will serve as a platform to catalyze regional dialogue, knowledge sharing, and networking at the intersection of technology and financial services.

Driving Dialogue.Transforming Finance.
December 2nd, 2026 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

This premier event brings together East Africa’s fintech elite; from regulators and banks to tech entrepreneurs and global investors, creating high-impact branding, collaboration, and business development opportunities in a premium setting.

Target attendees include senior bankers, fintech startup founders, regulators, investors, and other financial-services professionals.

Welcome to the 2026 U.S.-Africa Business Summit

About the Summit

The 18th U.S.-Africa Business Summit will be held in Mauritius, one of Africa’s most stable, business-friendly, and globally connected economies. With a strong regulatory environment, a leading financial services sector, and world-class infrastructure, Mauritius offers an ideal setting to connect U.S. and African leaders, catalyze new commercial opportunities, and amplify partnerships across the continent.

Building on the success of last year’s Summit—which generated over $4 billion in deals and convened 12 African Heads of State and Government, 3 heads of African agencies, 41 ministers, 400+ U.S. and African officials, 230+ speakers, and more than 2,800 attendees—the 2026 Summit will provide a dynamic platform for high-level engagement and deal-making. Mauritius, a strategic gateway for investment into Africa and the Indian Ocean region, will host discussions and networking across key sectors such as financial services, ICT, renewable energy, the blue economy, manufacturing, and tourism. The Summit will bring together senior government officials, CEOs, and investors to advance the next phase of U.S.-Africa trade and investment.

About Africa EV Mobility Expo Kenya 2026
The Africa EV Mobility Expo Kenya 2025, the leading event for electric vehicles will be held from 4-6 December 2026 at Kenyatta International Convention Centre – KICC. This event brings together top local, regional, and global manufacturers and suppliers to showcase the latest in electric vehicle technology.

Discover the innovations transforming transportation and energy. With hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors, including buyers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs from Kenya and surrounding regions, this is the premier platform to stay updated on the latest in the EV industry.

Explore cutting-edge electric vehicle solutions, connect with industry leaders, and uncover new business opportunities. Join us at Africa EV Mobility Expo Kenya 2025 and shape the future of sustainable transportation and energy.

On December 9, the FinEquity Africa community will convene virtually to examine the persistent barriers that continue to limit women’s financial inclusion in the region. Women in Sub Saharan Africa remain 12 percentage points less likely than men to own a financial account, a gap that has more than doubled over the past decade, even as developing economies globally have made progress. Limited digital access, restrictive social and gender norms, and financial products that do not reflect women’s needs continue to constrain meaningful inclusion.

This year’s session will place particular emphasis on young women, exploring the challenges they face as they enter the financial system, build livelihoods, and make critical economic decisions. The discussion will focus on how practitioners, funders, policymakers, and other stakeholders can work together to ensure that young women are not left behind, and that financial inclusion strengthens economic agency and resilience across generations.

Originally planned as an in-person convening in Nairobi, the event will now bring the full FinEquity Africa community together online. Drawing on the latest evidence, including the Global Findex 2025, participants will explore what is working, where gaps remain. A dedicated workshop will offer space to identify priorities, share practical experiences, and explore partnerships and actionable solutions to address persistent barriers, particularly those affecting young women.

The Governments of Kenya, Norway and the United States, together with the International Energy Agency, will convene the second major international Summit dedicated to advancing clean cooking access for the 1 billion people in Africa who currently lack it.

The Summit will build on the momentum generated by the landmark 2024 Paris Summit, where a historic USD 2.2 billion was committed by governments and the private sector. The next event aims to mobilise further financial and political commitments, bringing together governments, industry leaders, investors, development partners, and civil society to accelerate progress towards universal access.

You are invited to submit a paper to the fourth Research Conference on Accelerating Growth for Women Entrepreneurs in Developing Economies, jointly organized by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank Group, World Bank Group, American University, Imperial College London, and Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL).

The conference aims to promote new research and evidence on entrepreneurship, with a focus on women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (WSMEs), start-ups, and micro-enterprises with growth potential. Papers using sex-disaggregated data are particularly encouraged.

In addition to academic sessions, the conference will feature a keynote address by Seema Jayachandran, Kenneth J. Boudreaux ’65 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Policy-oriented sessions will provide a platform for academics, practitioners, and policymakers to network and discuss the application of research findings to project design and implementation. These discussions will strengthen the connection between research and policy, helping to generate new evidence and define key objectives and milestones for the future.

You are invited to submit a paper to the fourth Research Conference on Accelerating Growth for Women Entrepreneurs in Developing Economies, jointly organized by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank Group, World Bank Group, American University, Imperial College London, and Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL).

The conference aims to promote new research and evidence on entrepreneurship, with a focus on women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (WSMEs), start-ups, and micro-enterprises with growth potential. Papers using sex-disaggregated data are particularly encouraged.

In addition to academic sessions, the conference will feature a keynote address by Seema Jayachandran, Kenneth J. Boudreaux ’65 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Policy-oriented sessions will provide a platform for academics, practitioners, and policymakers to network and discuss the application of research findings to project design and implementation. These discussions will strengthen the connection between research and policy, helping to generate new evidence and define key objectives and milestones for the future.