AWIEF, which this year hosts the 12^th edition of its benchmarking Conference, Expo and Awards event, has more than 60 African and global thought leaders across business and politics to share insight and thought leadership on the conference agenda.

The conference theme this year is, Beyond Access: Owning Capital, Markets and Power. The two-day event will have global thought leaders, industry experts, policymakers, development organisations, investors, women entrepreneurs. and ecosystem stakeholders gather to dialogue, connect, network, share, collaborate, and transact in a collective effort to accelerate the growth of women-owned and women-led businesses in Africa.

AWIEF2026 will explore what it takes to move beyond access and create greater ownership and influence for women across Africa’s economies, with a focus on capital, markets, leadership, and innovation.

Headline Speakers Taking the Stage

Taking the stage at the AWIEF conference, to deliver trailblazing keynotes and fireside chats are three exceptional global female leaders and influential voices.

Dr. Rania Al-Mashat is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Dr. Al-Mashat is an Egyptian economist who served eight consecutive years as Egyptian Cabinet Minister (2018-2026) across three portfolios: Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation; Minister of International Cooperation; and Minister of Tourism.

Magda Wierzycka is founder and CEO of Sygnia Limited, a JSE-listed South African financial services group and leading provider of passive investment solutions, savings products, stockbroking and administration services. She is also a partner at Braavos Investment Advisers LLP in the UK. Recognised by Forbes as one of Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women in 2020, she is widely respected for her leadership and outspoken stance against corruption.

Dr. Judy Dlamini is Chancellor, University of the Witwatersrand (WITS). She is a medical doctor by training, a leading businesswoman, author, and philanthropist. Dr. Dlamini is the Executive Chairperson of Mbekani Group. She is Founder, Female Academic Leaders Fellowship Fund (FALF).

The conference will have other powerful and high-level speakers and leaders from international institutions, government, diplomacy, finance, academia, technology, and business sharing insights and knowledge in panel discussions and entrepreneur-focused masterclasses and workshops aimed at strengthening enterprises, scaling businesses and navigating African and global supply chains.

AWIEF 2026 Conference Features

An exhibition will take place alongside the conference showcasing businesses and organisations; Pitch n Grow competition presenting twelve outstanding women founders selected from across African countries, building and scaling African deep-rooted tech solutions and looking for capital; and the AWIEF Awards celebrating excellence in African women entrepreneurship will be presented on Day 2 of the event, 11 November.

Tickets for the AWIEF 2026 Conference, Expo and Awards are available online at: https://apo-opa.co/3T6yipO

Ashley Ndir, Principal Commercial Officer with the U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce/International Trade Administration, and Raúl Santiago Ailán, Head of Mission and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Embassy of Argentina in South Africa, have joined the conference, signaling growing international interest in Africa’s mining opportunities.

Ndir will join the U.S.–Africa Roundtable on Advancing Local Beneficiation and Standardizing ESG Frameworks. Drawing on her role in expanding American market opportunities and economic partnerships, Ndir is expected to bring a commercial diplomacy perspective to discussions on U.S.–Africa market integration.

Her participation comes as the U.S. advances its African mining strategy, centered on facilitating investment in mineral development and exports. Through agencies like the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, the U.S. Export–Import Bank and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency alongside private industry, the U.S. continues to back major project development across key mining jurisdictions, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Ailán joins the conference at a time when Argentina is accelerating its own mining expansion. The country is a major lithium producer and is seeking to expand copper development, while African mineral producers are similarly working to attract investment into exploration, processing and supporting infrastructure. This creates scope for greater cooperation between African and Latin American mining jurisdictions across investment, technical expertise and mineral development.

Ailán will join the panel discussion on Realigning National and International Goals to Advance Global Investment in Africa’s Value Chain. The session will examine how national development priorities can be aligned with international investment requirements to support greater value addition.

Under the theme Mining the Future: Unearthing Africa’s Full Mineral Value, AMW 2026 will bring together governments, investors, mining companies and international partners to advance investment across mineral exploration, production, processing and supporting infrastructure. The event offers a strategic international forum to foster engagement, strengthen mineral ties and advance development in Africa and across international markets.

 




 
Originally launched in 2022 as an app for smart devices, the IsDBI Reader was developed in partnership with Koraspond, a technology firm based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A cloud-based version was subsequently introduced to support reading on larger screens and web-enabled devices.

The latest enhancements of the Reader offer a more convenient experience to users for accessing the Institute’s growing collection of publications and knowledge products. The Reader is integrated with the IsDBI website, enabling users to purchase publications online and then download and read them on their preferred devices.

Key enhancements of the new version of the Reader include:

• A fresh, intuitive interface that improves the overall user experience
• Automatic return to the last reading position
• Seamless synchronization of annotations and reading progress across devices
• Retaining saved annotations when an ebook file is replaced
• Personal book collections for easier organization
• Full-text search within individual e-books
• Improved bookstore search and filtering
• Faster loading of downloaded ebooks
• Enhanced stability and performance

Commenting on the launch, Dr. Sami Al-Suwailem, Acting Director General of IsDBI, said: “We are delighted to introduce version 2.0 of the IsDBI Reader, which reflects our commitment to using technology to advance knowledge dissemination. The Reader provides users with an innovative and interactive environment for accessing high-quality digital resources in Islamic economics and finance.”

In his comments, Mr. Bilal Saeed, Founder and CEO of Koraspond, said: “We are proud to partner with the IsDB Institute in delivering the next-generation digital reading experience for its global audience. The enhanced IsDBI Reader combines powerful reading capabilities to make knowledge more accessible and engaging across devices. This release reflects our shared commitment to leveraging technology to advance learning and knowledge dissemination.”

The IsDBI Reader has been integrated with the IsDB Group Digital Library, scheduled for launch soon, thereby offering the Library users seamless discovery and reading experience.

The enhanced IsDBI Reader marks another milestone in the IsDB Institute’s digital transformation, using technology and strategic partnerships to broaden access to knowledge and support learning and sustainable development across Member Countries and beyond.

Access the IsDBI Reader:

• Cloud Reader: https://read.IsDBInstitute.org/
• iOS App: https://apo-opa.co/4xXGrvW
• Android App: https://apo-opa.co/4xmj3qV