WCAF IV: United Kingdom – Francophone West & Central Africa Trade & Investment Forum

WCAF IV represented a landmark moment as the forum was hosted outside the United Kingdom for the first time, signalling a new chapter in UK–Francophone Africa trade relations. Held over two high-energy days in Lomé, the event welcomed more than 1,500 participants, including business leaders, investors, and government representatives from nine African economies, alongside delegations from over 40 countries. The scale and diversity of attendance reflected both the region’s rising global profile and WCAF’s role as the leading platform for UK engagement in Francophone West and Central Africa.

The forum opened with a high-level session chaired by Steve Gray OBE, setting a purposeful tone for the discussions that followed. Key contributions—including remarks from the Togolese Minister of Finance and Budget, the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Africa Ben Coleman, and an address by His Excellency President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé—brought significant gravitas to the proceedings and reaffirmed the forum’s role as a premier platform for bi-lateral trade between the UK and Francophone Africa.

Country spotlights and thematic panels highlighted opportunities across Togo, Cameroon, Senegal, Mauritania, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, the DRC, Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Guinea, with dialogue spanning infrastructure, energy, digital innovation, agribusiness, finance, and education. These sessions provided a platform for in-depth sector analysis, dynamic exchanges between practitioners, and forward-looking discussions on how the UK and Francophone Africa can partner more effectively to unlock growth.

WCAF IV delivered tangible outcomes, including more than €60 million mobilised in the Deal Room, new bank mandates for social-impact project finance, and a renewed MoU between the Government of Togo and UK Export Finance—building on over £2 billion facilitated by UKEF in recent years. The forum closed with a clear sense of momentum, deeper commercial alignment, and a shared commitment to converting this year’s progress into long-term partnerships as we look ahead to WCAF V and an expanded programme of trade missions in the year to come.