Africa as the Sector 2.0
About this Event
Join LEAP Africa in Lagos, Nigeria for the Social Innovators Programme & Awards (SIPA) 2026; the premier Pan-African platform dedicated to supporting, celebrating, and scaling youth-led social enterprises.
SIPA 2026 will convene 250+ key stakeholders, including young social entrepreneurs, impact investors, corporate leaders, policymakers, philanthropists, and tech builders from across Africa and the global diaspora.
By leveraging Lagos’s dynamic economic and technological ecosystem, SIPA 2026 bridges high-potential social enterprises with the strategic capital, policy frameworks, and scaling technologies required to solve Africa’s most pressing development challenges. Attend to connect, collaborate, and drive sustainable growth across the continent.
The theme this year, "Africa as the Sector" articulates the need for a deliberate shift from traditional, dependency-led social models toward a dynamic ecosystem driven by scalable enterprise, technological integration, and economic self-determination. By positioning young Africans not as passive beneficiaries but as the primary architects of continental prosperity, it establishes a framework where technology serves as the multiplier, finance acts as catalytic leverage, and policy operates as an enabling foundation.
Through this lens, This edition of SIPA aims to bridge high-potential youth enterprises with strategic capital, align cross-sector leadership to build resilient regulatory frameworks, and pressure-test real-world solutions that convert Africa’s critical development challenges into sustainable, wealth-generating opportunities across the continent.
Agenda
🕑: 08:30 AM - 09:00 AM
Registration
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:05 AM
National Anthem & Welcome
🕑: 09:05 AM - 09:15 AM
Welcome Address
Host: Clare Omatseye, Board Chair, LEAP Africa
🕑: 09:15 AM - 09:20 AM
Opening Remarks
Host: Kehinde Ayeni, Executive Director, LEAP Africa
🕑: 09:20 AM - 09:40 AM
Keynote
🕑: 09:40 AM - 09:50 AM
The SIPA Journey
Host: Chukwuemeka Okeke
Info: About the SIP Fellowship, Fellows, Changemaking, and What is to Come
🕑: 09:40 AM - 10:00 AM
My SIPA Story of Change and Impact
Info: 2 SIPA 2026 social innovators share their experience and journey.
🕑: 10:20 AM - 10:30 AM
Speed Talks (×2)
Info: Disruptive tools & models (AI for social good, climate tech, blended models).
🕑: 10:30 AM - 10:50 AM
Tea Break
🕑: 10:50 AM - 11:40 AM
Turning Youth Potential into Prosperity - The Practitioner's Reality.
Info: Panel Session
🕑: 11:40 AM - 12:10 PM
Scale, Governance and Resilience
Info: Fireside Chat
🕑: 12:10 PM - 12:25 PM
Live Pitch Stage
🕑: 12:25 PM - 12:40 PM
Awards
🕑: 12:40 PM - 12:50 PM
Closing Remarks
🕑: 12:50 PM - 01:30 PM
Lunch, Networking
Info: Refreshments, entertainment, and partner showcase.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
