About The Programme

Sustainability & ESG Africa 2026 Programme

Theme:

A world of change: Strengthening the Economics of Sustainability

The 2026 Sustainability and ESG Africa Conference is framed around the theme Strengthening the Economics of Sustainability. The programme positions sustainability not as a separate compliance or reporting activity, but as a core part of business continuity, resilience, competitiveness and long-term value creation. This aligns with the conference’s public positioning as an executive platform focused on the business and economics of sustainability, showing how sustainability makes business sense in a changing African and global context.

The programme is built around a stronger economic, strategic and practical sustainability agenda. Key themes include, sustainability as business continuity, resilience as a strategic capability, green industrialisation, systemic risk, climate and nature integration, reporting to performance, and the practical tools, skills and collaborations needed to move from ambition to implementation.

A major emphasis is on helping organisations understand how sustainability affects costs, revenues, assets, capital access, insurance, procurement, operational resilience, competitiveness and long-term enterprise value.

What sets the event apart

The 2026 programme builds on what already differentiates the Sustainability and ESG Africa Conference. The event is positioned as Africa’s premier Sustainability and ESG platform, described as the continent’s largest, longest-standing and most trusted sustainability gathering. It also offers influence that matters, connecting participants with leaders shaping sustainability across business, finance and policy.

The conference is also distinctive because it goes beyond the event. It is part of a broader sustainability community that supports collaboration before, during and after the conference through webinars, communities of practice and ongoing engagement. The 2026 programme strengthens this through impact hubs, masterclasses, skills clinics, sector discussions and practical tools.

07:30–09:00 | Leadership Breakfast - Where leadership judgement matters more than frameworks

The Leadership Breakfast is a high-level executive session focused on the decisions leaders must make beyond frameworks, reporting, and compliance. In a rapidly changing sustainability landscape, it’s a space for candid conversations on leadership judgement, business resilience, and strategic direction.

09:15 - 09:20 | Welcome - Sustainability and ESG Africa Directors

09:20 – 09:40 | Opening Plenary - Green industrialisation in Africa and the integration of climate and nature

This plenary explores how climate resilience, nature-positive strategies, and industrial expansion can work together to unlock sustainable economic growth across the continent.

09:40 – 10:15 | YES AWARDS - Excellence in Youth employment

10:15 – 11:00 | CEO Panel - Systemic risks and how they are shaping sustainability leadership and focus

In an era of disruption, sustainability has become a boardroom priority. This CEO panel brings together business leaders to discuss how systemic risks are influencing strategic decision-making, resilience, investment, and long-term organisational value.

11:00- 11:30 | TEA BREAK

11:30 – 12:30 | Compliance Fatigue to Organisational Momentum

This session explores how companies can move beyond sustainability fatigue and re-energise teams around practical, business-relevant action. It will consider how sustainability can be made meaningful for operations, finance and frontline staff, and how leadership narratives, incentives, KPIs and culture nudges can help connect sustainability to pride, purpose and performance.

12:30 – 13:30 | From Reporting to Performance and Impact

The focus in this session is on the shift from sustainability reporting as a compliance exercise to sustainability as a driver of performance and measurable impact. It will explore the latest reporting trends, how organisations can measure what actually changes outcomes, and how sustainability information can be linked more directly to financial resource allocation and decision-making.

13:45 - 14:30 | LUNCH BREAK

14:30 – 16:00 | Conversations in Sustainability

Six thirty-minute discussions on key and topical sustainability issues which will be examined through different lenses by a subject matter expert, followed by an interactive discussion with the audience on the various perspectives. These sessions are designed to empower sustainability practitioners to be able to discuss these sometimes controversial topics with the right knowledge and a full understanding

16:00 – 16:45 | Case study showcases

This session will bring sustainability to life through practical examples of implementation and innovation. The fashion sector showcase will explore sustainable products, circular economy approaches and how creative industries can respond to environmental and social challenges while opening up new forms of value.

16:45 | Closure of Day 1

17:00 – 19:00 | Beyond Awards and Student Innovation Competition

The evening session will celebrate sustainability leadership, innovation and future talent. The Beyond Awards and Student Innovation Competition will recognise organisations, practitioners and emerging innovators who are demonstrating practical action, measurable impact and new thinking in sustainability and ESG.

09:00 - 09:10 | Welcome and review of Day 2

This short opening session will welcome participants back and frame the focus for the day. It will connect the previous day’s leadership, economics and impact discussions to the more sector-focused delivery conversations that follow.

09:10 – 09:40 | Opening Plenary

This session will be a thought provoking speaker that covers a key topic such as AI or water.

09:40 – 10:30 | Insurance shaping investment decisions

This session will examine how insurance is increasingly influencing sustainability, investment and resilience decisions. With a focus on adaptation, water-related risks and emerging opportunities, the discussion will explore how changing risk profiles are affecting the cost, availability and conditions of insurance, and what this means for companies, financiers and infrastructure planning.

10:30 – 11:00 | TEA BREAK

11:00 – 13:00 | Sectoral Breakouts

The sectoral breakouts will provide focused spaces for participants to explore sustainability risks, opportunities and implementation priorities within specific sectors, including energy and mining, manufacturing and construction, and finance, insurance and property. Each session will include short case studies, a shared sector sustainability risk and opportunity map, identification of collaboration opportunities, and an innovation canvas to support practical sector-level action in the following sectors:

Energy and Mining
Manufacturing and Construction
Finance, Insurance and Property

13:00 - 14:15 | LUNCH BREAK

14:15 – 15:30 | Sectoral ecosystems and collaboration

An interactive session where the outcomes of the various sectoral sessions will be analysed from an ecosystem perspective and risks, opportunities, collaboration points, areas of tension etc will be understood. The session will aim to develop new ways of work and transformative projects around non-competitive topics such as water

15:30 – 16:15 | Sectoral collaboration case studies

This session will showcase practical examples of where sectoral collaboration has worked and why. The case studies will highlight the conditions that enable successful collaboration, including shared purpose, trust, clear governance, practical incentives, non-competitive areas of cooperation and measurable outcomes.

16:15 - 16:30 | Closure of Day 2

The closing session will draw together the key insights from the day and highlight the main implications for sustainability leadership, sector action and cross-sector collaboration. It will also identify the practical messages participants can take back into their organisations and networks.

What is different in 2026?

This year’s programme is more applied, more sector-focused and more implementation-oriented. It moves beyond a traditional conference format by combining leadership dialogue with training, practitioner masterclasses, case studies, sector breakouts, an SMME forum, a C-suite leadership breakfast, practical implementation tools and dedicated Impact Hubs.

A key difference in 2026 include:

The introduction of Impact Hubs, including a dedicated Sustainability Careers, Skills and Practice Hub. These hubs create practical spaces within the conference where participants can access tools, clinics, micro-sessions, training providers, career guidance, skills diagnostics, AI tools, mentorship opportunities and hands-on support. This gives the conference a stronger implementation and capability-building focus, helping participants move from listening and networking to learning, practising, connecting and applying.

The programme is also different because it caters to a wider range of professions, sectors and levels of experience in sustainability. It is designed for C-suite leaders, board members, sustainability practitioners, finance teams, procurement specialists, legal and compliance professionals, investors, insurers, SMMEs, consultants, academics, students and early-career professionals. The conversations are therefore tailored accordingly, with executive sessions focused on strategy, risk and value; sector sessions focused on practical implementation; masterclasses focused on skills; and hubs focused on careers, enterprise support, tools and practice development.

Another important difference is the stronger sector focus. The programme includes dedicated breakouts for sectors such as energy and mining, manufacturing and construction, and finance, insurance and property. These sessions will use short case studies, shared sustainability risk and opportunity maps, collaboration opportunity identification and innovation canvases to help each sector move from broad ESG discussion to practical action.

The sector breakouts will not remain as separate conversations. After the sector sessions, the programme will include a dedicated cross-sector collaboration session that brings the insights from each sector together. This session will explore where risks, opportunities and dependencies overlap across sectors, where collaboration is needed, and where there may be practical opportunities for joint action on non-competitive issues such as water, infrastructure resilience, skills, supply chains, technology adoption and nature-positive solutions.

The 2026 programme also places even greater emphasis on real examples and applied learning. More case studies will be included across the conference, including examples linked to sustainable fashion and circular economy, insurance and investment decision-making, adaptation and water risk, critical minerals, digital product passports, artificial intelligence, biodiversity and nature-positive strategies.

Recognition, innovation and future talent

The 2026 conference continues to recognise real impact through the Beyond Awards, YES Awards and Student Innovation Awards, which celebrate leaders, companies and future innovators. These awards will be linked more closely to the broader conference focus on practical implementation, measurable impact, youth participation, future skills and sustainability innovation.

Overall, the 2026 Sustainability and ESG Africa Conference is designed to be more than a conference. It is an African-led platform for sustainability leadership, economic value creation, implementation, collaboration and capability-building. It combines high-level executive insight with practical training, sector-specific work, impact hubs, case studies and tools that help participants strengthen the economics of sustainability and build resilience in a world of change.

Parallel Interventions

Sustainability Careers, Skills and Practice Hub in a dedicated areas in the exhibition hall and will include clinics, micro sessions and tools

The Sustainability Careers, Skills and Practice Hub will be hosted in a dedicated area within the exhibition hall and will provide a practical support space for people building, changing or strengthening their careers in sustainability throughout the conference. The hub will include mini exhibition areas for training service providers, short talks on career pathways in sustainability, climate and nature, CV and LinkedIn clinics for practitioners, skills gap diagnostics, AI tools for sustainability professionals and mentorship sign-ups. It is aimed at sustainability practitioners, early-career professionals, mid-career transitioners, SMMEs, consultants and academics who want to build practical capability and connect with others in the sustainability ecosystem. Other Impact Hubs may also be included, depending on partner interest, sponsorship and the priority themes that emerge as the programme is finalised.

The SMME Forum (half day) will provide a practical and accessible space for small, medium and micro-enterprises to understand what sustainability means for their businesses and how to integrate it into everyday decision-making. The forum will focus on helping SMMEs respond to changing customer, procurement, finance and regulatory expectations, while identifying opportunities to reduce costs, manage risks, improve competitiveness and access new markets. It will translate sustainability into practical business actions, such as improving resource efficiency, strengthening supply chain practices, understanding basic ESG requirements, telling a credible sustainability story and preparing for future reporting or buyer requirements. The session will also create opportunities for SMMEs to connect with larger companies, support organisations, funders and potential partners.

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