Business

CAPE TOWN – Stronger partnerships, greater intra-African trade, increased value addition and sustained investment in people and productive industries emerged as central themes at the ongoing Standard Bank Africa Unlocked 2026 conference.

Business leaders challenged Africa to accelerate its own development through collaboration and locally driven growth.

More than 140 business leaders, policymakers, investors and entrepreneurs from across Africa and key global markets have gathered in Cape Town for the third edition of Standard Bank’s Africa Unlocked conference to explore practical actions required to accelerate trade, investment and sustainable economic growth across the continent.

Hosted by Standard Bank Business and Commercial Banking under the theme ‘Built in Africa: Amplifying Continental Growth’, the conference is focusing on the growing role of African businesses, capital and innovation in shaping the continent’s next phase of development.

Now in its third edition, the gathering has evolved alongside Africa’s economic journey, bringing together leaders from business, government, development finance institutions and academia to strengthen partnerships and explore long-term growth solutions.

Opening the conference, Standard Bank Group Business and Commercial Banking Chief Executive Bill Blackie said this year’s theme reflected a continent whose growth was increasingly being driven by African enterprise, African capital and African conviction.

Blackie said his optimism about Africa’s future, first expressed at last year’s conference, remained firmly intact despite growing global uncertainty characterised by rising tariffs, geopolitical tensions and pressure on the multilateral trading system.

To illustrate his confidence, he shared the story of East African manufacturer Coast Cables, which had grown from producing super-enamelled copper cables into a major regional manufacturer of domestic and industrial power cables while expanding into renewable energy.

He said what stood out was not simply the company’s commercial success, but the determination shown in continuing to invest despite economic cycles, currency volatility and infrastructure constraints.

According to Blackie, Africa’s economic transformation was no longer theoretical, but increasingly visible through businesses expanding across borders and building regional value chains.

He highlighted that intra-African trade reached approximately US$220 billion last year, while 47 countries are now participating in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), creating the world’s largest free trade area by number of participating countries.

More importantly, he revealed that Standard Bank’s Business Banking clients now trade more with one another across Africa than with any single external trading partner, including China, the United States or the European Union.

“This shift matters. It reflects something structural rather than cyclical,” Blackie said.

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Standard Bank Group Business and Commercial Banking Chief Executive Bill Blackie. (Courtesy pics)