Africa must lead together with global insights for local impact – Kafui Prebbie

Africa must strengthen collaboration among leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and communities to unlock its full potential and translate global opportunities into meaningful local impact, Convener of the Impact Leaders Breakfast, Kafui Prebbie, has said.

Speaking at the Impact Leaders Breakfast 2026 (ILB 2026), held under the theme “Leading Together With Global Insights For Local Impact,” Mr. Prebbie said Africa was experiencing rapid technological change, shifting markets and evolving consumer behaviour, requiring stronger partnerships and meaningful collaboration.

He said the 2026 edition of the executive convening was designed to combine global insights with local input and create a platform for stakeholders to develop practical solutions to Africa’s emerging challenges.

“Last year, on my birthday, it reinforced my belief that when the right people come together, and the right ideas and conversations, real action is so powerful,” Mr. Prebbie said.

He identified leadership, entrepreneurship and business as the three key pillars driving the Impact Leaders Breakfast, stressing the need for leaders who collaborate, entrepreneurs who think beyond borders, investors who recognise long-term value and institutions capable of sustaining that value.

Mr. Prebbie noted that Africa’s opportunities in entrepreneurship, innovation and corporate investment were enormous and should be harnessed through collective action.

“The real truth is, Africa is navigating some rapid technological change, some shifting markets, and evolving consumer behaviour. And this requires us to connect, as well as to collaborate,” he said.

He added that the question was no longer whether Africa had the potential to succeed, but how the continent could effectively transform its potential into sustainable economic value.

Co-founder of the Springboard Roadshow Foundation, Rev. Albert Ocran, also called for greater collaboration, inclusion and locally driven solutions to accelerate development across Africa.

He urged development actors to engage communities, understand their realities and avoid simply copying solutions that may have worked in other countries or environments.

“Let’s ask questions. Let’s not assume that the people in the community don’t know what they are doing,” Rev. Ocran said.

He stressed that development interventions must be adapted to local circumstances rather than being adopted wholesale from elsewhere.

According to him, collaboration was one of the key factors behind the success of a recent programme implemented by his organisation, during which more than 200 Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) were signed with trade associations, traditional leaders, educational institutions and government agencies.

“We needed to understand that we can’t do this alone,” he said, urging leaders and institutions to work together without being overly concerned about who receives the credit.

Rev. Ocran said Africa needed a collective approach involving CEOs, religious leaders, government, young people and the diaspora.

“We are not in competition. The sky is big enough for all of us to fly,” he stated.

Rev. Ocran further emphasised the need to include persons with disabilities in development initiatives, recounting how two of the best-performing participants in the pilot phase of a youth-led organisation model were persons with disabilities.

He said the experience demonstrated what could happen when young people were given genuine opportunities to succeed.

“Nobody had given them a chance. So they just couldn’t believe that we were giving them a chance. And that was it. They just flew,” he recounted.

He therefore urged stakeholders to create more opportunities for young people and measure the success of development interventions by true transformation, rather than simply by the number of programmes implemented or statistics produced.

The Impact Leaders Breakfast 2026, organised by IMPLEMENTERS, brings together business executives, investors, policymakers, entrepreneurs and development leaders to explore the future of leadership, entrepreneurship and investment in Africa.