Innovate 2026
Ready to take your business beyond its borders?
A two-day experience for founders, business leaders and ecosystem players who want to understand what it takes to build, grow and trade across African markets.
12–13 November 2026 · Lagos
Democratizing Trade
Simplifying Intra-African Trade for SMEs
This is Africa's time.
The African Continental Free Trade Area is creating the world's largest free trade area — connecting over 50 African countries and more than 1.3 billion people into a single continental market with a combined GDP of roughly US$3.4 trillion.
African countries have committed to progressively eliminate tariffs on 90% of goods traded under the agreement.
The opportunity is expanding.
Readiness is not keeping pace.
For businesses that have built successfully in one market, the question is no longer whether there is opportunity across Africa.
It's whether your business is ready to act on it.
And if you're still building, growing or figuring out what comes next, it's about seeing what's possible — and understanding what it will take to get there.
What Is Innovate 2026?
More than a conference. A place to see what's possible — and work out what comes next.
Innovate 2026 is a two-day experience designed to help you move from confusion to clarity, from clarity to strategy, and from strategy to execution.
Across the two days, you'll learn from people who have built, grown and supported businesses, engage directly with the institutions shaping Africa's trade ecosystem, and work through practical questions that matter to your own business.
Understand the Opportunity
Hear from founders, business leaders and institutions working across the African trade ecosystem.
Through keynotes, founder conversations, panels and practical sessions, we'll unpack the realities behind payments, market access, compliance, logistics, funding and cross-border growth — in plain terms.
Day 1 gives you the context, insights and connections to see the bigger picture.
Build Your Response
Day 2 isn't another conference day. It's a working room.
You'll assess your business, work through practical frameworks, identify gaps and priorities, and turn what you've learned into specific next steps — guided by people who have built businesses and navigated growth themselves.
Day 2 helps you move from knowing what is possible to figuring out what it could mean for your business.
Don't just hear about the ecosystem. Meet it.
Across both days, the Trade Hub connects you directly with organisations and experts who can support different parts of your growth journey — from payments and logistics to compliance, finance, market access and more.
Come with questions. Leave with contacts.
Together, the experience moves you through one journey:
Awareness → Understanding → Access → Capacity → Action
What does it actually take to trade across Africa?
Every cross-border growth journey raises some fundamental questions.
Payments
How will you receive, manage and move money across markets?
Market Access
Who will buy from you, and how will you reach new customers and markets?
Compliance
What regulations and requirements do you need to understand and meet?
Operations
Can your systems, processes and people support the next stage of growth?
Funding
What capital will you need to enter new markets and sustain your growth?
Across Innovate 2026, we'll explore these five dimensions — helping you understand what they mean for your business and where you need to strengthen your readiness.
If you see a bigger future for your business, you're in the right room.
Innovate 2026 brings together people at different stages of the journey, united by a desire to build, grow and participate in a bigger African market.
Wherever you are on the journey, Innovate gives you a clearer picture of what's possible — and what it will take to get there.
Clarity is only powerful if it leads to action.
When you leave Innovate 2026, you'll have:
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Not just more information. A clearer way forward.
Built by Advance Consulting
Advance Consulting helps entrepreneurs and organisations build strategic, structured and sustainable businesses through consulting, coaching and practical business education.
Innovate 2026 brings that same approach to the question of growth across African markets:
Make it clearer. Make it practical. Make it actionable.
What people say after the room.
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Choose how you want to experience Innovate.
Innovate 2026 is intentionally curated — not high-volume. Seats are limited to protect the depth of the room, the quality of conversations and the opportunity to connect meaningfully with other participants and ecosystem partners.
Summit Pass
Full access to Day 1
- Keynotes
- Panel Session
- Founder Insights
- Presentations
- Curated Networking
- Trade Hub Access
Workshop & Clinics Pass
Full access to Day 2
- Hands-on Strategy Sessions
- Practical Frameworks
- Direct Engagement with Facilitators and Experts
- Full Trade Hub Access
The Full Experience
Experience the full Innovate journey:
Understand the opportunity, work through what it means for your business, connect with the ecosystem and leave with a clearer path forward.
Reserve the Full ExperienceSeats are limited. Once they're gone, they're gone.
Booking for a team? Reach out directly for group rates on 4 or more seats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Selling across African markets takes more than an export license.
A trade-ready business knows its markets, has the systems to fulfill orders and get paid, and can access the right finance, partners, and opportunities.
Take the African Trade Readiness Assessment and find out where your business is strong, where it needs work, and what to tackle first.
