MTN, Lagos Free Zone, GEPA, headline as sponsors of 6th Africa Finance Festival 2026

Thought Leaders Expected to Speak

The event is set to feature an exceptional faculty of speakers which spans government, banking, energy, fintech, development finance, and risk management, drawing from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Namibia, and beyond, and reflects the festival's ambition to serve as the continent's most comprehensive and authoritative annual finance gathering.

Among the most prominent confirmed names is Mr. Leonard Mkude, Accountant General of the United Republic of Tanzania, who returns to AFF having attended a previous edition, a testament to the festival's enduring draw among Africa's most senior public finance officials. 

Nigeria’s public finance leadership will be strongly represented at the event, featuring Shamsedeen Babatunde Ogunjimi, Accountant General of the Federation Akintunde Oyebode, Chairman of the Forum of Finance Commissioners of Nigeria; and Muyiwa John Adetola, Accountant-General, Lagos State. 

They will be joined by Bonaventure E. Okhaimo, Managing Director/CEO of the National Credit Guarantee Company. Also participating is Hauwa Nuru, Commissioner of Finance for Kwara State, bringing sub-national fiscal leadership to a programme designed to bridge federal and state governance.

Meanwhile, Mr. Paul Ampadu, Finance Director at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority of Ghana, adds a public sector finance voice from the Ghanaian government services architecture.

On the corporate finance side, Modupe Kadiri, Executive Director and CFO of MTN Nigeria, anchors the CFO Connect stream as one of the most recognisable finance executives in Nigeria's telecoms and technology sector. Ashish Khemka, Director of Finance and Operations at Lagos Free Zone, returns to the AFF stage having attended the previous edition, this time as a confirmed speaker, bringing his experience in infrastructure finance, IFC-backed capital raising, and Nigeria's first 20-year private corporate bond. 

Oluseyi Olanrewaju, CFO of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, and Mr. Ogaga Ologe, Group Chief Finance Officer at Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group, extend the CFO faculty into the power and infrastructure space, sectors at the forefront of Nigeria's energy transition conversation.

Also, Yinka Ogunnubi, President, Association of Corporate Treasurers of Nigeria and Kehinde Ogundare, Country Manager, Zoho Nigeria will the speaking at the event.

The development finance and banking pillars are represented by Dkt. Kaanaeli G. Nnko, Director of Finance at Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank, and Mr. Daniel Asiedu, Managing Director of OmniBSIC Bank Ghana, both bringing East and West African institutional perspectives to a programme designed for continental breadth. 

Risk management and governance will be anchored by two compelling voices: Saima Ashipala, Chief Risk Officer of the Development Bank of Namibia, and  Renatus Nyanda, Head of the Risk Management Unit at Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation, together providing both banking and energy sector risk perspectives from southern and eastern Africa.

The TaxIgnite stream draws two of Africa's most operationally specific tax practitioners: Adegbola Thomas, Head of Tax at FIRST Exploration and Petroleum Development Company, who brings oil and gas tax expertise to a stream increasingly focused on extractive industry fiscal governance; and Sebastine Odimma, Head of Tax at Yellow Card App, who represents the rapidly growing fintech sector's engagement with digital tax frameworks and cross-border compliance, one of the most topical conversations in African tax policy today. 

Previous editions of the finance event have drawn figures of comparable stature, including Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Ghana's Minister of Finance; Albert Larweh Asante, CFO of Standard Chartered Bank Ghana; and Kwadwo Kwakye Gyan, Head of Risk and Sustainability Management at the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund — a track record that affirms AFF's position as a serious platform for serious finance leaders.

Akin Naphtal, Chief Executive Officer of InstinctWave and Group Publisher of TheCFO Magazine, was direct about what AFF 2026 represents. "This rebrand is not just a name change," he said. "It is a reflection of where Africa is heading -bold, integrated, and driven by finance leadership that truly shapes economies." 

On the festival's purpose, he added: "AFF 2026 will be the definitive meeting point for those building financial systems that power inclusive growth, resilience, and innovation."