Standard Bank to Host Conference on African Policy and Investment

Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking will host the second annual African Markets Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, from February 22 to 24, 2026. The event aims to connect global institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, and African policymakers to encourage investment in key sectors across the continent.

Luvuyo Masinda, Chief Executive of Corporate and Investment Banking at Standard Bank Group, stated the 2026 conference builds upon the success of the 2025 event, which shifted the perception of Africa from a high-risk investment area to one of resilience. The conference will focus on bridging the gap between policy goals and market realities, emphasizing the need for practical measures to strengthen capital pools, improve market liquidity, and enhance regulatory frameworks.

Infrastructure Investment Needs

Africa is projected to add one billion people by 2050, with over half residing in urban areas. However, current investment levels fall short of the continent’s needs, requiring approximately $150 billion annually for infrastructure, compared to the current $80 to $90 billion invested each year, according to the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA). Standard Bank intends to use the conference to ensure African priorities remain central to global financial discussions.

Conference Pillars

The conference will be structured around five key pillars designed to stimulate investment. These include prioritizing infrastructure through public-private partnerships (PPPs) to transform projects into investable assets, and accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources to position Africa as a key player in global energy security.

Other pillars will focus on:

• Deepening African capital markets and mobilizing private capital through enhanced domestic liquidity, regulatory transparency, and expanded access for institutional investors.
• Facilitating intra-African trade and capital flows by promoting regional integration and leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to create a larger, more predictable market.
• Addressing Africa’s sovereign debt and cost sustainability by focusing on affordability, credibility, and structure, rather than solely on access.

Conference Format and Participants

The conference is designed as a high-level platform for engagement, prioritizing the strengthening of the financial architecture needed for sustained investment over individual deal-making. Confirmed participants include finance ministers, infrastructure development ministers, central bank governors from key African economies, global asset managers, institutional investors, development finance institutions (DFIs), and multilateral agencies.

Standard Bank executives, including Sim Tshabalala, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Bank Group, Luvuyo Masinda, Sola Adegbesan, and Alex Davidson, will lead technical sessions on market liquidity.

Previous Conference and AfCFTA Impact

The inaugural African Markets Conference, held in Cape Town in March 2025, aimed to attract new capital flows and unite global and African sources of capital. The World Bank estimates that the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, established in 2018 and ratified by 48 countries, could potentially increase the continent’s income by $450 billion within a decade and boost intra-African exports by over 81 percent.

The 2026 African Markets Conference is presented as a call to action for both the public and private sectors, with Masinda emphasizing that mobilizing capital is about building a more balanced and inclusive global economy.