Africa Social Impact Summit Heads to UNGA 2026 to Push for Development Funding

The Africa Social Impact Summit is taking its message to the world stage. After the fifth edition held in Lagos in July, the summit is set to participate in the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 2026) in New York. The Africa Social Impact Summit Global Action Forum will gather global leaders, investors, policymakers, development institutions, philanthropists, businesses, and social impact organizations. They will discuss Africa’s development needs and ways to promote inclusive and sustainable growth.

Sterling One Foundation is hosting the New York edition, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and RALLY, which is based in Indianapolis. Other private-sector and institutional partners are also supporting the event. Notable speakers will include senior public officials from Africa and leading experts in market-based social impact solutions.

The theme for the Global Action Forum is “Financing Africa’s Future: Mobilising Capital, Strategic Partnerships and Collective Giving for Sustainable Development.” The forum will look at Africa’s development financing situation. It will address the urgent need to raise resources for sustainable development. Discussions will focus on how different sources of capital, partnerships, and collective giving can help fill financing gaps and promote inclusive growth.

This forum builds on what was achieved at ASIS 2026. That event brought together leaders from Africa and other regions to discuss new financing models, strengthen partnerships across sectors, and find solutions to the continent’s biggest development issues. By moving these discussions to the global level, the forum aims to deepen current commitments, create new partnerships, and turn shared goals into real actions and investments.

With ongoing financing gaps and the need to speed up progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Global Action Forum will focus on turning promises into actions and ambitions into real results. Talks will look at how governments, businesses, development finance institutions, investors, philanthropies, and civil society can team up to unlock new capital sources. They will also discuss how to reduce risks for investments, strengthen social impact systems, and scale solutions that provide sustainable results for Africa.

Dr. Mariarosa Cutillo, Chief of Strategic Partnerships at UNFPA, spoke ahead of the forum. She highlighted the need for strategic partnerships and innovative financing to support sustainable development in Africa.

“Achieving sustainable development requires more than resources; it requires the right partnerships to mobilise, align and deploy those resources where they can deliver the greatest impact. Strategic collaboration across governments, development institutions, the private sector, philanthropy, and civil society is essential to advancing inclusive development and ensuring that investments translate into meaningful outcomes for people and communities. The Global Action Forum provides an important platform to strengthen these partnerships, catalyse collective action, and advance innovative approaches to financing Africa’s development priorities.”

Emil Ekiyor, CEO and Founder of InnoPower Global, also shared his thoughts. He said the event is a key chance to connect Africa’s development goals with the capital and partnerships needed to make a difference.

“Africa has no shortage of ideas, entrepreneurs, and locally developed solutions capable of addressing some of the continent’s most pressing challenges. What we need is stronger alignment between capital, policy, and innovation to move these solutions from potential to scale. The Global Action Forum provides an important platform to connect African innovators and solution-builders with the investors, institutions, and strategic partners needed to unlock sustainable growth and create meaningful impact.”

Sagamore CEO Jay Hein echoed this sentiment. “Investing in locally owned solutions requires strategic connections and effective partnerships. This is the perfect time to pair thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems with sustained capital to achieve sustainable, enterprise-driven growth for communities across Africa.”

Olapeju Ibekwe, Chief Executive Officer of Sterling One Foundation, stressed the importance of the forum. She said it is a chance to take the discussions from ASIS to the global arena and highlight Africa’s development priorities in talks about financing and sustainable development.

“The Africa Social Impact Summit has always been about moving beyond dialogue to catalysing action. Our presence at the United Nations General Assembly offers an opportunity to bring Africa’s priorities, innovations, and solutions into the global conversation and connect them with the capital and partnerships needed to scale impact. We must move beyond discussing Africa’s financing gap to building the partnerships, financial instruments, and investment pathways to help close it. Africa must be positioned not simply as a recipient of capital, but as an active partner in shaping and driving solutions for sustainable development.”

The Global Action Forum will look into how Africa can tap into local and international capital, utilize public, private, and philanthropic funding to boost high-impact solutions, and strengthen partnerships that turn innovative ideas into sustainable actions.

This forum will further emphasize the Africa Social Impact Summit’s commitment to creating a system that links capital, ideas, partnerships, and actions to speed up inclusive growth and sustainable development across Africa.

The Global Action Forum will take place in September 2026 in New York, USA, as part of the events around the 81st United Nations General Assembly.