GABI Drives Greater Local Ownership Across Africa

African leaders and other stakeholders have called for greater local ownership and value retention as they seek solutions to the continent’s business and economic challenges at Unstoppable Africa 2026, Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI)’s flagship event, in New York on Sunday.

They are also confronting the challenge of foreign control of the continent’s resources as African countries seek to attract foreign investment in mining, energy, manufacturing and technology.

GABI is an initiative of the African Union and the United Nations, hosted by the UN Global Compact.

It brings together African and global business leaders, governments, investors and other stakeholders to advance trade, investment and sustainable economic growth across the continent.

This year’s edition, themed “Powering Business, Scaling Economies, Shaping the Future,” focuses on moving beyond discussions about Africa’s economic potential to increase African ownership, investment and value creation.

The two-day forum is bringing together heads of state, CEOs, investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers to discuss areas including critical minerals, energy, digital transformation, trade, creative industries and sports.

Speaking to News Central during the event, Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, an advocate and women’s rights activist, said Africa must move away from being described primarily in terms of its potential and instead demonstrate and retain the value of its human and natural resources.

“I think it begins with understanding that we have to move the conversation from potential of Africa to actually manifesting the power, the resource-rich nature of the African continent in its human resource, its mineral resource, and all of the things that we bring to the table that have not yet been recognized,” she said.

Mos-Shogbamimu also argued that African innovation and economic activity are often overlooked because development is assessed through standards derived from Western economies.

She cited ways Africans have adapted financial and technological systems to their circumstances, arguing that these forms of innovation deserve greater recognition.

“The problem here I find is that there’s not enough lens put on what Africans achieve because there’s this Eurocentric lens on what progress should look like, on what technology should look like,” she said.

She said the focus should instead be on how Africans use available resources and technology to develop solutions suited to their own economic realities.

Mos-Shogbamimu further argued that conversations about Africa’s potential must also address the ownership of the continent’s resources.

“Let’s look at the fact that a lot of Africa’s rich resources are not owned by African countries or Africans,” she said.

She criticised the continued reliance on what she described as Eurocentric systems and laws in foreign investment across the continent, arguing that African countries should have greater control over resources located within their territories.

“This is 2026. There should be no African country that still allows foreign investors to use the Eurocentric ways and Eurocentric laws to come onto the African continent to make claim to what is Africa and African,” she said.

The comments align with one of the central themes of Unstoppable Africa 2026, which organisers say is focused on determining who captures the value generated from Africa’s resources and economic growth.

The GABI platform says Africa holds critical minerals, renewable energy potential, expanding consumer markets and the world’s youngest workforce, but notes that value is often exported through raw commodities or captured through external technologies and fragmented markets.

The forum is therefore placing particular emphasis on local processing, green industrialisation, digital and financial infrastructure, and building African businesses that can compete globally while retaining more value on the continent.

The discussions come as African countries seek to attract foreign investment while also increasing local participation in sectors such as mining, energy, manufacturing and technology.