Africa-UAE Partnership
An Invitation to the Africa-UAE Partnership on Make in Africa
Join the Summit: Trade, Technology and Investment on Fair Terms
We invite the UAE’s businesses, investors and institutions to join Make in Africa, the pan-African movement to build more of what Africa uses and sells, in Africa. The Africa-UAE Partnership sets out what a stronger relationship looks like: trade, investment and technology on fair terms. The Make in Africa Global Summit meets in Sandton, Johannesburg, in January 2027, in partnership with GSEF and WSSH Australia. We ask the UAE to bring capital, technology and markets, and to help repair the terms of trade.
Why This Partnership Matters
Make in Africa: Africa’s Collective Strength
Africa has the resources, a young population and, through the AfCFTA, a single continental market. Yet it still ships out raw materials and buys finished goods back, so the value, the jobs and the technology are made elsewhere. For the Africa-UAE Partnership, the question is how the UAE can help change that, with ports, logistics, free zones, finance and renewable energy. A fair partnership puts value back into Africa and gives Emirati firms a stable, growing market in return.
Mutual Benefits
What Emirati Partners Gain from Make in Africa
Investment That Builds Capacity
Africa needs patient capital that builds factories, not only mines and ports. The UAE can put money where value is added: logistics, renewable energy, minerals processing, food processing and finance. About 230 special economic zones operate in 43 African countries. The task is to connect them to finance, technology and buyers. Investors who commit to processing in Africa gain access to a growing continental market under the AfCFTA.
Access to a Continental Market
The AfCFTA is building a single market across African Union member states. A business that sets up in one country can supply many. For the UAE, that means one entry point to many African markets, and a base from which Emirati firms can serve them. We do not issue licences or certificates. We point you to the customs authority or chamber that does.
Shared Technology and Skills
The UAE has real strength in ports, logistics, free zones, finance and renewable energy. Joint ventures with African firms can turn that strength into African production. The best collaboration shares know-how, not only finished equipment: training, licences, repair capacity and joint research with African universities. Skills built in Africa stay in Africa and grow over time.
What Africa Asks of the UAE
Fair, Long-Term Finance
Africa pays too much to borrow. Risk is priced high, credit ratings are slow to reflect reality, and short loans do not suit factories that take years to build. We ask the UAE for long-term finance at fair prices, guarantees that lower the cost of capital, and debt restructuring or swaps that free public money for productive investment. Terms should be clear and open to scrutiny by African parliaments and citizens. Make in Africa will publish what is offered and what is delivered.
Market Access for Processed Goods
Many tariff systems charge little on raw materials and far more on processed goods. This is called tariff escalation, and it keeps processing offshore. The UAE is a hub through which many African commodities pass. We ask it to support processing at the source and full traceability for gold, minerals and food traded through its markets. Standards matter as well. They should be applied honestly, with mutual recognition where possible and technical support so African producers can comply.
Technology, Skills and Clean Flows
We ask the UAE to share technology and licences on workable terms, and to invest in skills, vocational training and research in Africa. Training should lead to jobs in African factories, not only to scholarships abroad. Illicit financial outflows drain Africa of money that should fund schools, roads and industry. Transfer pricing abuse and hidden ownership make it easier. We ask for shared information, open company ownership and cooperation to bring those outflows to an end. Make in Africa will keep score and publish who delivers.
What UAE Can Bring to Make in Africa
Capital and Industrial Experience
The UAE brings port and free-zone management, financial services, renewable energy investment and logistics networks that link Africa to the world. That experience is most useful in Africa when it is paired with local ownership, local suppliers and local jobs. We invite Emirati firms and institutions to join working groups, share what has worked, and name where they can commit. Joint ventures that give African partners a real role in management are the ones that last.
Trade That Adds Value
Emirati buyers can help build African industry by choosing processed goods over raw ones and by signing long-term supply agreements with African producers. Sectors with the strongest case include logistics, renewable energy, minerals processing, food processing and finance. Make in Africa introduces buyers to producers and to the regional bodies that set trade rules.
People, Research and Exchange
Partnership is also between people. Engineers, researchers, students and entrepreneurs from the UAE and Africa learn faster when they work side by side. We encourage exchanges, joint laboratories, apprenticeships and business visits that lead to real projects. Exchange should run both ways, with African expertise valued as much as it is shared.
A Fair Partnership: What It Looks Like in Practice
Honest Advice, Shared Experience
A fair partnership starts with honest advice. The UAE can share what it has learned about industrial planning, zones, logistics and quality control, including where things went wrong. African governments choose their own path. The best partners offer options and let them decide. Make in Africa policy frameworks set out proposals for African governments, regional bodies and partner countries for 2027 to 2035. They are proposals, not law.
Long-Term Commitments
Short projects rarely build industries. We look for commitments that run for years: purchase agreements, patient finance and training that outlast a political cycle. Fair terms mean shared value. Local content, local jobs, fair prices and a fair share of profit stay in the country where the work is done. Make in Africa will introduce partners to African governments, investors and companies who are ready to commit. Partners who deliver will be named.
A Voice for Fair Terms
The UAE can use its voice in international institutions to support fair rules on debt, credit ratings, tariffs and standards. Today’s system still prices risk, credit, standards and tariffs in ways that keep processing offshore. We ask every major economy that trades with Africa to help repair the terms of trade. We invite the UAE to back that change in word and in practice. We build this movement in partnership with GSEF and WSSH Australia.
Join Us in Making More in Africa
The Make in Africa Global Summit is more than an event. It is a place to agree fair terms, sign long-term commitments and build industry in Africa. The Africa-UAE Partnership is a vital part of that work, and your involvement will help make more of what Africa uses and sells, in Africa.
We look forward to welcoming you at the Summit in January 2027 and building together.
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About
The Make In Africa Global Summit (MIAGS) is a global platform connecting leaders, businesses, investors, institutions and policymakers shaping the next era of economic growth across the Global South and Africa.
MIAGS advances South–South cooperation, trade, investment, industrialization, technology, infrastructure and economic resilience, creating platforms for dialogue, strategic partnerships and cross-border opportunities.
Our mission is to strengthen the Global South and Africa’s role in the global economy by connecting capital with opportunity, innovation with markets and economic priorities with action—while fostering a more connected, productive and influential economic future.