The Programme

The Uganda Development Finance Summit's programme has been designed to provoke, inform, and inspire, culminating in a clear articulation of actionable insights for systemic change.

DAY 1  //  01 SEPTEMBER 2025

08:00 - 09:00 // Arrival, Registration, and Networking Breakfast

09:00 - 09:30 // Grand Opening

09:30 - 09:35 // Welcome Remarks

09:35 - 09:50 // Scene setting

09:50 - 10:30 // Keynote Speech: Transforming Africa through National Development Finance Architecture

11:00 - 11:40 // Welcome Ceremony & Inaugural Address

11:50 - 12:50 // Plenary: A New Development Paradigm
"Advancing Africa’s Transformation through Development Finance, Industrial Policy, and Private Sector Growth"
A high-level panel exploring how Africa can accelerate economic transformation through a reimagined national development finance architecture, focusing on the role of National Development Banks (NDBs), blended finance, and industrial policy.

     

    12:50 - 14:20 // Networking and Lunch Break

    14:20 - 15:50 // Parallel Sessions 

    • Commercialising Agriculture for the 21st Century Economy: Opportunities for Africa
      This session will delve into how emerging technologies and stronger financial mechanisms can boost agricultural yield and productivity, and the role NDBs can play.
    • Industries Without Smokestacks: A New Approach to Address Africa’s Youth Crisis
      Explore how Africa can leverage the emerging services sector, creative industries, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution to drive economic growth and create employment for its youth.
    • Reshaping Industry for Sustainable Economy (RISE) in Uganda
      This session will look at the Role of RISE in addressing the key challenges stated about, implement the National Development Plan and achieve the ambitious Goal of Uganda's 10-fold growth strategy. (BY INVITATION ONLY)
     

    15:50 - 16:20 // Tea Break

    16:20 - 17:20 // Plenary: High-Level Panel: Africa’s Economic Development in Perspective
    A panel discussion to set the stage for the Summit, offering insights into financing practices and envisioning a modernized national development finance architecture to drive job creation and export-led growth through science and technology.

       

      18:00 - 20:00 // Gala Cocktail Reception – Uganda Nite


      DAY 2  //  02 SEPTEMBER 2025

      08:00 - 09:00 // Networking Breakfast

      09:00 - 09:30 // Keynote Speech: How Africa Trades

      09:30 - 10:45 // Panel Discussion: Shifts in the global trade order: What are the priorities for Africa?
      This session will explore the impact of geopolitical shifts on trade routes and supply chains, highlighting opportunities for the continent and the role of NDBs in unlocking capital for industry and domestic value chains.

         

        10:45 - 11:30 // Tea Break

        11:30 - 12:45 // Parallel Sessions (Choose One)

        • Getting Finance to Work
          A deeper dive into blended finance and impact investments, exploring new initiatives and how collaboration can drive transformative impact, particularly in energy provision.
         
        • Economic Transformation in a Technologically Driven World
          Addressing how to close the technology gap given limited resources and how governments and development finance can support the tech ecosystem to create value and jobs.
         

        12:45 - 14:30 // Lunch and Networking

        14:30 - 16:00 // Closing Plenary: Reimaging National Development Banks as architects of inclusive and sustainable transformation

        • Keynote Address
        • Panel Discussion: This closing session will synthesise discussions from both days, envisioning a new paradigm for Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and their strategic role in navigating technological, demographic, and policy shifts.
        • Summit Closing Remarks and Way Forward
         

        18:00 - 20:00 // Grand Reception