Dr Safaa Alhamaydeh Alsatari
Between Africa and the Middle East, proximity has never been lacking. What is often missing is the conversion of this proximity into enduring alliances: projects that actually unfold, financing that reaches the real economy, value chains that create jobs, and trust that survives inevitable frictions.
Today, visions of the future intersect clearly. On the Middle East side, diversification strategies are accelerating: securing the post-oil era, investing in infrastructure, capturing value chains, and remaining a global logistics hub. On the African side, priorities are radically clear: accessible energy, industrialization, jobs, food sovereignty, and growth financing. Where these futures meet, several points of convergence dominate.
Energy and transition
In 2024, private investments in clean energy in Africa approached $40 billion, signaling a real acceleration. The potential is considerable, but the continent remains marginal in global flows. The common future therefore relies less on announcements than on the ability to structure demand, secure risk, and deliver networks, capacities, and skills.
Logistics and trade
Recent disruptions of maritime routes have reminded us that corridors are not lines on a map but systems: ports, insurance, schedules, security, and inventory. Both regions have an interest in securing and modernizing these systems, as they determine both the cost of living and competitiveness.
Food security and agro-industry
The Middle East seeks resilience and price stability; Africa seeks productivity, local processing, and market access. The common future lies in value chains – storage, cold chain, processing, certification, distribution – not only in harvests.
A fourth convergence rising: innovation and talent
Africa brings entrepreneurial youth and rapid digital adoption; the Middle East brings platforms, hubs, and internationalization capacity. Diasporas serve as a natural bridge – provided networks are converted into contracts, and contracts into execution.
In these convergences, one position becomes decisive: the ‘adapter’
Within these convergences, one position becomes decisive: the “adapter.” Not an administrative title, but a strategic stance that makes compatible logics that do not spontaneously understand each other, so that intention becomes architecture, then impact.
Being an adapter means clarifying real interests (what each party wants and how they measure success), aligning timelines (decision pace and milestones), integrating standards from the start (compliance, due diligence, reporting, governance), and making cultural implicitness explicit before it turns into conflict.
In this special issue, female leadership provides a concrete advantage: organizing trust and demanding deliverables. Africa shows one of the highest levels of female entrepreneurial activity in the world (around 24% according to the IFC). And the IFC announced in early 2026 the expansion of She Wins Africa to reach 1,000 entrepreneurs, following an initial phase that mobilized $4 million in funding. These dynamics point the way: connecting capital, markets, and execution, with measurable local value (jobs, training, subcontracting).
The golden rule is simple: align before accelerating. Accelerating without alignment creates delays, hidden costs, and damaged trust. Aligning, then accelerating, produces corridors that deliver: more available energy, smoother logistics, and businesses capable of scaling.
STATISTICAL
• ~$40B: private investment in clean energy in Africa (2024, IEA)
• $2.3T: global investment in energy transition (2025, BloombergNEF)
• 24%: female entrepreneurial activity in Africa (IFC)
• 1,000: entrepreneurs targeted by the She Wins Africa expansion (IFC, 2026)
• $4M: funding mobilized during the first phase of She Wins Africa (IFC)
• >$17.5B: trade finance disbursed by Afreximbank in 2024
*Dr Safaa Alhamaydeh Alsatari is an expert in social entrepreneurship and sustainable development
