2025 Africa Celebrates: AAASME-led Ubuntu Susu Continental SME Fund Set for Pre-Launch

Preparations are in top gear for the 2025 Africa Celebrates event, scheduled to take place from November 5–10, 2025, at the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) facilities in Addis Ababa.

The annual celebration will host Africa’s political leaders, entrepreneurs, creative artists, and development partners from across the continent and the diaspora.

This year’s edition promises to be particularly impactful, featuring an expanded economic discourse segment—the Africa Talks Business and Investment Forum—under the sub-theme: “Re-imagining Africa’s Business and Investment Landscape: Actioning Opportunities for Shared Economic Prosperity.”

A major highlight of the forum will be the Pre-Event Launch of the $1.4 billion Ubuntu Susu–Continental SME Fund, an Afrocentric finance model inspired by Africa’s traditional revolving contributory savings system, popularly known as “susu.”

The Ubuntu Susu initiative, led by the All Africa Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (AAASME), was first unveiled at the Africa SME Roundtable on June 28, 2025, following a continental resolution by MSME stakeholders to “take their destiny into their own hands” through homegrown financial solutions.

Since then, a Sensitization Caravan has traversed Africa’s five regions and engaged diaspora communities in Europe and the United States, raising awareness and building momentum ahead of the pre-launch.

The Africa Talks Business and Investment Forum is designed to ignite a new economic revolution for Africa’s prosperity—by Africans and for Africa—while fostering collaboration with global partners. The sessions will serve as both a platform for stock-taking and a roadmap for collective progress toward SDG 2030 and AU Agenda 2063.

In a media parley ahead of the event, Mr. Lexy Mojo-Eyes, President of Legendary Gold Limited and Convener of Africa Celebrates, alongside Dr. Ebiekure Jasper Eradiri, Co-Organizer of the Africa Talks Business and Investment Forum and President of AAASME, expressed confidence in the event’s successful delivery and transformative outcomes.

“Africa Celebrates 2025 will not just be a celebration of our culture and creativity—it will be a landmark moment for economic empowerment and integration,” said Mr. Mojo-Eyes.

Dr. Eradiri added: “The Ubuntu Susu Fund represents African solidarity in action—a practical demonstration of Africans financing Africa’s future.”