10 key takeaways from the Africa Soft Power Summit 4.0

The just-concluded 2025 Africa Soft Power Summit brought thought leaders, disruptors, investors, and policymakers from Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and beyond for a dynamic two-day convening held from May 22–23 in Nairobi, Kenya. Returning for its fourth edition, the summit explored the financial frameworks, technologies, policies, and social dynamics shaping Africa’s future under the theme “Africa’s Growth Engine: How Policy and Infrastructure Can Advance Emerging Financial Technologies for Continental Leadership.”  The convening featured two vibrant conferences: The Remarkable African Women’s Leadership Conference and The Creative & Innovative Industries Conference. Distinguished speakers included Dr. Nkiru Balonwu, Founder and Convener of Africa Soft Power; Hon. CJ Martha Koome, Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya; Hon. Millie Odhiambo Mabona, Member of Parliament, Kenya; Philip Ikeazor, Director General, Financial System Stability at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Aliya Shariff, Senior Director, Africa Catalytic Impact Fund at the Mastercard Foundation; Edwin Macharia, Co-Founder of Axum. Earth and Board Member, Mozilla Foundation; and Daisy Isiaho, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Zuri Health, among others, shared bold, cross-sector insights to reimagine leadership, investment, inclusion, digital finance, AI, and cultural equity not as fleeting trends, but as long-term pathways for African-led global influence.

Here are ten key takeaways from the Africa Soft Power 4.0:

1. Inclusion must outlive the buzzword

Inclusion isn’t a PR strategy. It’s economic infrastructure. At the Remarkable African Women Conference, speakers emphasized that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) must be treated as a strategic investment, not a trend or charity.

“When you realise that inclusion is an investment in your own future, the game changes.” Dr. Nkiru Balonwu

2. Regulatory leaders warn that Africa’s digital finance boom needs infrastructure to keep up

While digital payments have significantly accelerated financial inclusion, especially in Nigeria, where transactions are now counted in quadrillions, regulatory leaders emphasized that both soft and hard infrastructure must urgently scale to support this growth.

“We’ve made real progress on financial inclusion, up to 74% with plans to reach 95%, but to achieve that goal, infrastructure must catch up.” Philip Ikeazor, CBN, remarked at the Africa Soft Power summit.

3. Call for political will as the missing link in cross-border payments

Despite innovations like the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) by Afreximbank, Africa’s fragmented currencies and rigid exchange controls hinder trade. Political will can advance unified systems and propel continental leadership in digital payments.

“When the Europeans wanted a common market, they did it.

So really, it’s about political will.” Philip Ikeazor, CBN, noted.

4. Africa’s creative industries need data, distribution, and protection

At the “Producing for Profit” panel, creative economy leaders emphasized that the path to a commercially successful film and content sector lies not just in storytelling but in building a strong business infrastructure around it.

“Strong business cases require data, distribution, and de-risking,” said Kola Aina of Ventures Platform.

Filmmaker Judy Kibinge pushed back against the global appetite for trauma-centered African stories, advocating instead for emotionally resonant, export-ready narratives. But even with market-ready content, piracy remains a major threat and panelists advocated for more policies to curb this.

5. Africa has the talent, but without local capital control, it’s undervalued

Edwin Macharia issued a sharp critique of Africa’s investment landscape; too much foreign capital, too few local decision-makers who understand the continent’s nuances. Macharia called for a new wave of economic nationalism, where Africans not only build the businesses but also fund and govern them. Local capital allocators who “are of the place, from the place,” he argued, are key to building resilient, relevant, and billion-dollar African enterprises.

“Most of the people allocating capital to African startups over the last decade weren’t from here. They didn’t understand the context, and that’s why they missed the opportunity.” — Edwin Macharia, Axum.Earth

6. Interoperability is essential to a Pan-African fintech future

Delegates highlighted the cost of Africa’s siloed platforms; banks, telcos, and fintechs not speaking to each other, thus weakening Africa’s digital ecosystem. Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo of NIBSS emphasized that interoperability is non-negotiable to unlock true digital scale.

7. Marginalized women can’t be an afterthought in Innovation

Rural and underserved women are often excluded from the design of financial, digital, and policy solutions. The summit called for a shift from surface-level interventions to co-created interventions rooted in lived realities.

“It’s not just about giving loans or grants. It’s about listening. It’s about co-creating solutions with women who understand the problem firsthand,” a delegate noted.

8. Narrative power is paramount

Africa pioneered innovations like instant payments and digital ID, yet, remains overlooked in global tech discourse. Delegates stressed that Africa must intentionally amplify its own success stories to influence perception and policy.

“If we don’t tell our story, others will, and we’ll be fighting to reclaim it,” a delegate remarked.

9. Open-Source AI could level the playing field if Africa acts fast

A key opportunity for Africa lies in building and customizing open-source AI models instead of relying solely on Western-built, closed systems. Speakers pointed to tools like Llama that can be adapted for African use to create sovereign models trained on African languages, customs, and realities without handing over valuable local data to foreign tech giants.

“We can take these models, shrink them, localize them, and use them to solve our own problems,” a panelist urged

10. Women are Africa’s entrepreneurs, but still face funding bias

The summit brought to the fore that most entrepreneurs are women, yet, despite driving much of Africa’s informal and small business economy, women remain drastically underfunded. Panelists stressed the need for more female capital allocators who understand the context and lived experience of African women entrepreneurs.

“We don’t just need gender-lens investing. We need gender-informed investors, empowering women-led businesses isn’t just good optics, it’s good economics,” one speaker said.

The 2025 Africa Soft Power Summit made one thing clear; Africa is no longer asking for a seat at the table, it is building its own. From financial infrastructure and policy reform to gender inclusion and AI strategy, the summit challenged institutions to move from talk to transformation. But more than that, it highlights that for Africa to lead, Africa must align its narratives, systems, and capital with its realities.

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