More than 1.5 million young Africans from across the continent are expected to participate in the upcoming ACFTA Fest, scheduled to take place in Nigeria from March 26 to 28, 2026.

The event, which will be held in Abuja, is also expected to catalyse $5 billion in trade deals, reinforcing the country’s role in Africa’s expanding intra-continental market.

ACFTA Fest is an African Festival platform where African startups, creatives, athletes, and leaders come together to celebrate Africa, build connections, and create the economic future.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday in Lagos, Project Lead ACFTA FEST, Mandi Anyangwe, said the choice of Nigeria for the maiden edition was strategic because the country stands at the intersection of trade, influence, culture and it has put Africa on the map with the creative industry.

She expressed optimism that, beyond the empowerment, the festival would facilitate $5 billion in trade deals and partnership opportunities through legacy infrastructure, new business linkages, and youth-centred impact.

She explained that the festival, rooted in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework established in 2018, was designed in response to the slow growth and limited scalability of many African enterprises despite decades of trade activity on the continent.

She said: “It is about time that we came together, in doesn’t matter where you are in your career, to identify the existing bottlenecks that are preventing us from scaling and provide sustainable solutions so that we can thrive; that is the only way we can build Africa of our choice. It is a collaborative and not a competitive approach.”

She noted that the festival was to influence collaboration of businesses among Africans and also bridge the gap between policy and grassroots realities by helping communities to understand and benefit from existing trade frameworks.

She explained that the festival was structured around three core pillars: Start-up Flames, Heritage Waves, and African Legends United.

The start-up flames, according to her, focuses on entrepreneurship, innovation, SMEs, youth and women-led enterprises, providing networking, policy engagement and access to finance opportunities.

She added that heritage waves would spotlight Africa’s creative economy, arts, music, fashion and film, promoting African stories and recognising cultural contributors whose impact had gone largely undocumented, while African legends united would leverage sports diplomacy, particularly football, to promote continental unity, youth inspiration and cultural exchange.

The lawmaker representing Surulere Constituency I at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliott, described the initiative as a novel pathway for partnership and networking to help Africans grow the continent for better economic improvement.