Breakout Sessions Round 1
Session Overview
Round 1 of the breakouts runs three parallel tracks in adjacent rooms, each anchored by one of Dr. Ibrahim Toumba, Prof. Aisha Bello, and Prof. Ngozi Okwuosa. Delegates choose their room at registration and stay with that group for the full ninety minutes.
The Financing track examines blended finance structures, climate-window allocations, and the role of DFIs in lowering currency risk for energy projects. The Utility Viability track focuses on tariff design, collection efficiency, and operating-cost containment as preconditions for capital markets access. The Industrialization track maps productive-use case studies from West Africa and southern Africa.
Each breakout produces a short rapporteur summary that is read into the record at the start of Day 2. The summaries feed both the Day 3 Summit Communiqué and the working papers commissioned by ACBF for publication in the following six months.
Key Topics
- Blended finance and climate-window access
- DFI roles in currency-risk mitigation
- Utility tariff design and collection efficiency
- Operating-cost containment as a capital-markets precondition
- Productive-use case studies (West Africa, Southern Africa)
- Rapporteur summaries and Day 3 communiqué feed
Speaker
Dr. Ibrahim Toumba
Programme Director, Sahel Economic Initiative
Dr. Ibrahim Toumba leads the Sahel Economic Initiative's research and policy advisory work on food security, agricultural transformation, and rural livelihoods. He coordinates a network of researchers across Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad working on cross-border agricultural value chains.
Prof. Aisha Bello
Director of Research, West African Economic Forum
Prof. Aisha Bello directs research at the West African Economic Forum, where she leads programmes on monetary policy, banking sector reform, and financial inclusion across the ECOWAS region. Her work has shaped central-bank coordination dialogues among West African monetary authorities.
Prof. Ngozi Okwuosa
Director, African Trade Policy Forum
Prof. Ngozi Okwuosa directs the African Trade Policy Forum, where she leads research on trade policy, gender economics, and regional markets. Her flagship programme on women in cross-border trade has shaped ECOWAS protocols on informal trade formalisation.
Session Materials
- PRESENTATION SLIDESAvailable after session
- VIDEO RECORDINGAvailable after session