The European Business Council for Africa

The 2025 Eastern Africa Association Lecture: "Capital and Influence: Reimagining East Africa’s Investment Future in a Fragmented Global Order"

13 October 2025

One George Street, London

  

East African governments are simultaneously de-risking their macro outlook, pursuing regional integration, and brokering new energy partnerships while balancing demands for fiscal space, political stability, and inclusive growth. The rising demand for critical minerals, the move toward cleaner energy, changes in global capital markets, realignment of international partnerships, and rapid advances in technology.

These shifts are creating new pressures and new possibilities for investors, fund managers, policy advisors, and legal experts operating in the region. 

This year’s lecture interrogates how capital, influence, and strategy are converging across Africa, with East Africa at the fulcrum of a new geopolitical and financial contest.

For CEOs, asset managers, and private capital leaders, the questions are no longer just about access and returns. They are:

  • What does alignment look like in a world of economic fragmentation?
  • How do you assess geopolitical risk in a region caught between major powers?
  • What capital structures will unlock long-term value in energy, logistics, and digital infrastructure without being overexposed to political volatility?
  • How can private capital play a constructive role in state-building while also protecting stakeholder value?

The 3rd Eastern Africa Association Annual Lecture, hosted in partnership with AXYS and the Economic Development Board of Mauritius, brings together institutional investors, fund managers, development financiers, and trade finance leaders to examine what this continental equation means for capital deployment, asset diversification, and long-term portfolio growth.

This lecture will explore:

  • The reshuffling of global capital: What happens when concessional finance contracts, green finance expands, and emerging powers shape investment terms?
  • Energy diplomacy and infrastructure politics: How are East African governments leveraging oil, gas, and renewables as geopolitical assets?
  • The geoeconomic reordering: What risks and opportunities arise when global finance is no longer neutral, and investment flows reflect strategic allegiance?

The event will be followed by a networking reception.

Registration here.