The 6th Africa Finance Festival (AFF) 2026, organised by InstinctWave Group and powered by TheCFO Magazine and InstinctBusiness Magazine, concluded on 13 May 2026 following two days of intensive programming at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Under the defining theme “Future Forward: Building Resilient, Sustainable and Digital Finance Systems for Africa,” the festival brought together senior finance executives, policymakers, regulators, risk professionals, tax directors, treasury leaders, blockchain innovators, and institutional investors from across the African continent for what organisers are describing as the most substantive and wide-ranging edition in the event’s six-year history.
The festival opened with a welcome address by Akin Naphtal, Group Chief Executive Officer of InstinctWave Group & Group Publisher of TheCFO Magazines, who set the tone for a day of conversation anchored in the conviction that Africa’s financial systems must be built for resilience, sustainability, and the digital economy , not merely repaired from the crises that have tested them.
“On behalf of InstinctWave and the entire organizing committee, we sincerely appreciate your presence, participation, and continued support towards this growing Pan-African platform.
Over the years, what began as the CFO & Public Finance Conference has evolved significantly into the Africa Finance Festival- a broader, more inclusive platform designed to accommodate the entire finance ecosystem across both the public and private sectors, and across multiple industries.”
A Keynote Faculty That Commanded Attention
Three keynote addresses opened the substantive programme, each contributing a distinct perspective on Africa’s financial trajectory. Hon. Dr. (Mrs.) Hauwa Nuru, Commissioner of Finance for Kwara State, whose address brought the sub-national governance lens that has become one of AFF’s most distinctive contributions to the continental conversation.
Daniel Asiedu, Managing Director of OmniBSIC Bank Ghana, addressed the intersection of banking strategy and West Africa’s evolving financial services landscape, while Ashish Khemka, Director of Finance and Operations at Lagos Free Zone, drew on his experience in infrastructure finance and blended capital structures to speak to the long-term investment frameworks that Africa’s industrial development demands.
Bonaventure Okhaimo, Managing Director and CEO of the National Credit Guarantee Company Limited, delivered an additional keynote address focused on the role of credit guarantees in Nigeria’s forward economy , a timely contribution at a moment when access to finance for smaller enterprises remains one of the continent’s most pressing structural challenges.
Three Panel Sessions. One Defining Conversation.
The conference programme unfolded across three thematic sessions, each drawing on a carefully assembled faculty of practitioners and thought leaders.
The CFO Connect panel, themed “The CFO as Chief Value Architect: From Financial Steward to Strategic Co-Pilot,” was anchored , Dkt.Kaanaeli G. Nnko of Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank, Paul Ampadu of Ghana’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, Chinomso Nwachukwu of Interswitch Nigeria, and Gbenga Adepetu, Finance Advisory Leader and Partner at PwC West Market Area. The session challenged the traditional framing of the CFO role and made the case for a new model of financial leadership defined not by compliance but by strategic co-creation.
The TaxIgnite panel – moderated by Barbara Ifeadikanne Mbaebie, Senior Manager of Transfer Pricing at KPMG, tackled corporate tax governance under rapidly shifting regulatory conditions. Adegbola Thomas of FIRST Exploration and Petroleum Development Company, Angela Chilotam Nnamani of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Sebastine Odimma of Yellow Card App, and Motunrayo Oyelakin of Heirs Energies brought perspectives spanning extractive industries, digital fintech, and energy , a cross-sector breadth that reflected the increasing complexity of corporate tax governance across African jurisdictions.
One of the most forward-looking sessions of the day was Blockchain Live, moderated by Favour Uche, Web3 Compliance Lawyer and Policy Advocate. The session brought Godspower Effiong of AGTM, Senator Ihenyen of Infusion Lawyers and founding trustee of VASPA, Buki Ogunsaki of BBO Solicitors, and Nathaniel Luz, President of the Africa Stablecoin Network, into a structured examination of blockchain’s regulatory, legal, and economic implications for African financial systems — a conversation that signalled AFF’s intent to bring Africa’s emerging digital finance frontier into the mainstream finance leadership conversation.
In the addendum, there was a fireside chat with Akinwumi Oni, Head, Executive Director, STL Trustees on into a wide-ranging conversation about the multi-dimensional pressures shaping the modern finance function.
Akin Naphtal said AFF 2026 had delivered on its ambition to serve as more than a conference. “What we witnessed over these two days was the continent’s finance community choosing, deliberately, to think together about the future they are building. The conversations in those rooms, about capital, governance, digital systems, tax, risk, and blockchain,were not theoretical. They were drawn from the lived authority of professionals who are making decisions that shape economies. That is what AFF exists to convene.”
