On May 12-13, 2025, the Africa CEO Forum took place in Abijan Côte d’Ivoire.
Under the theme, “Can a New Deal Between State and Private Sector Deliver the Continent a Winning Hand?” the forum brought together public and private sector decision-makers for two days of high-level debates, negotiations, discussions, and workshops.
Sounds ambitious and grand, and maybe in the past such gatherings might have peaked my interest, but experiences have stripped the veil. While there is value from such conferences, most of these gatherings tend to be pomp and pageantry and a plethora of recycled rhetoric which seldom lead to revolutionary action that yield tangible results for the African people.
The elephants in the room remain safe and invisible like Casper the Ghost. You observe the participants from government and private sector and wonder how, in view of the current tragedy of Africa and its retrogression, people can be so relaxed and casual even as people face serious hardship.
Where is the fire blazing in people’s eyes? The rolling thunder of urgency in their voices? The roaring tempest of revolutionary action? The inviolable movement of policy tectonic plates that realigns Africa and shakes the globe?
Why are so-called African leaders in government and private sector so nonchalant? And why be so diplomatic with your words? Speak directly to the pressing issues facing the African people without mincing words, and say exactly what you mean!
Stop justifying and explaining to the world, as if the global community needs to be convinced to validate the African position. Take a stand, make a decision, then boldly press forward. The world will adjust.
We need people whose souls are erupting with volcanic heat for aggressive African nation-building…unapologetically! Who are allergic to endless talking and sitting in airconditioned offices writing 200 page reports that no one reads. Whose bones are rattling for action and execution to physically manifest progress that directly affects the lives of the African people in the shortest possible time!
What is all this jamboree I see when people with focused energy should be spinning the wheel of development forward in high speed with strategic planning and tactical execution? There is way too much conviviality and photo ops, or, using local Nigerian parlance, most people just “jollofing and peppersouping”!
Everywhere you turn there is an African Conference on a range of issues, but if you look on ground little is changing. So what are we talking about?
I applaud the genuine efforts of the few who always put in real work. But mostly Africa is facing a crisis of genuine leadership that has transcended talking, and is serious about taking bold action and producing real results on ground for aggressive policy African nation-building!
~Dr. Ikenna A. Ezealah, Ph.D., MBA
Builder of the African Future
Nation Upbuilding 