Africa’s next phase of growth will be defined not only by vision or investment, but by its capacity to design, deliver, and operate complex systems on a scale. From energy and transport to water, industry, and digital connectivity, the continent’s development challenge has become fundamentally an engineering challenge, one of execution, integration, and resilience.
The third edition of Engineering Symposium for Africa (ESA) 2026 is a high-level platform dedicated to rethinking the role of engineering as a strategic driver of sustainable growth, competitiveness, and economic sovereignty. At a moment of rapid urbanization, climate stress, energy transition, and shifting global value chains, ESA moves beyond isolated projects to address the systems, skills, and financing models required to build infrastructure that performs over time.
Bringing together senior policymakers, global and African engineering leaders, infrastructure investors, and technology actors, ESA focuses on three core dimensions that determine delivery at scale:
- System design – integrating infrastructure networks and value chains
- Execution capacity – human capital, delivery ecosystems, standards, and digital tools
- Bankability and scale – financeability, risk allocation, and investment readiness
Structured as a coherent progression from vision to delivery, the symposium links long-term strategy with real-world implementation. It explores how Africa can design future-proof systems while building the engineering talent and institutional capacity required to deliver them, before turning to execution and financing challenges, energy transition pathways, resource-based value chains, water security, and the financial mechanisms needed to transform ambition into bankable, scalable outcomes.
