Convened by H.E. President Julius Maada Bio · Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority
West Africa Integration and Investment Summit
Powering economic integration
“Through Energy Trade, Strategic Minerals, Agribusiness, and Digital Transformation”
15 West African nations. Four pillars driving economic transformation. A structured framework for B2B, B2G, and G2G engagements — turning the comparative wealth of the region into coordinated investment and integration.
Delivered by
PI-CREF & AfCEN
Chaired by Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella · Chairman, PI-CREF · ECOWAS Summit Envoy · Former UN Under-Secretary-General
Four pillars, one convergence
The drivers of West Africa's economic transformation
Energy powers digital infrastructure. Digital transformation enables precision agriculture. Agribusiness creates the economic base for mineral value addition. Strategic minerals fuel the energy transition. This is the convergence thread at the heart of WAIIS.
I · Energy Trade & Industrialization
Cross-border power trade through WAPP, renewable corridors linking generation to industry, and mini-grids for productive use.
WAPPRenewablesIndustrializationII · Strategic Minerals
Lithium, bauxite, iron ore, manganese, with beneficiation hubs, ASM formalization, and supply-chain sovereignty.
Value additionBeneficiationSovereigntyIII · Agribusiness & Food Security
ECOWAS Rice Initiative, cold chains, agricultural corridors, school feeding programs, and clean-energy-powered supply chains.
Rice initiativeCold chainFood securityIV · Digital Transformation
Sovereign data centers, digital public infrastructure, Africa-designed AI governance, and the Digital Embassy model.
DPIAI governanceDigital embassyPhase 1 · Technical precursor
Expert Group Meeting (EGM) & Ministerial Conference
Technical precursor to the Heads of State Summit.
- Baseline Assessment on each of the four pillars.
- Policy Enablers aligned to national and regional priorities.
- Pipeline Investment Portfolio validated for WAIIS deal rooms.
- Deal Room Architecture for structured B2B, B2G, and G2G engagements.
This is your summit
This is your summit
Young Entrepreneurs
Free youth passes, hackathons, startup pitch arena, skills bootcamps.
Free passes for under-30s →SMEs & Market Traders
Affordable exhibition, 15-country matchmaking, customs guidance, ETLS tools.
SME marketplace →Investors & DFIs
Validated pipeline portfolio, 1-on-1 matchmaking, deal rooms, data room access.
Deal room access →Corporates & Equipment Vendors
Sponsorship tiers, exhibition, branded sessions, procurement pipeline access.
Sponsorship deck →Government & Policy Makers
Ministerial roundtables, TWGs, bilateral scheduling, policy paper submissions.
Ministerial track →Diaspora & Global Partners
Hybrid attendance, diaspora pathways, cultural programming, G2G engagement.
Virtual delegate pass →Built for the builders
Built for the builders
Cross-Border Hackathon
Teams from 2+ West African countries solve customs digitization, cross-border mobile payments, supply-chain traceability, and multilingual documentation. Winners receive seed funding and post-summit piloting via the secretariat.
Multi-country teamsSeed fundingPost-summit pilotSME Opportunity Engine
Year-round on waiis.org: supplier discovery, tariff guides, customs templates, and practical cross-border trade support.
B2B matchmakingCustoms guidanceLive year-roundYouth Ambassador Network
15 ambassadors (one per West African state), selected via social content competition in local languages with fully sponsored attendance.
15 countriesLocal languagesFull sponsorshipStartup Pitch Arena
Open to startups under 5 years old. Pillar-aligned tracks culminate in live presentations to investors and DFIs in deal rooms.
Live investor accessPillar-aligned tracksAccelerator partners15 nations. One convergence.
Join heads of state, ministers, investors, SMEs, and the next generation of West African entrepreneurs at the defining economic integration event of 2026.
Delivered by PI-CREF & AfCEN