AYV News, August 12, 2026
Special Envoy for the West Africa Integration and Investment Summit (WAIIS), Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella, has engaged development partners and members of the diplomatic community in Sierra Leone as preparations intensify for the upcoming regional investment summit.
The engagement, held on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at the Bintumani Hotel in Freetown, brought together representatives of the United Nations system, development agencies, embassies and high commissions to discuss the vision and implementation of WAIIS 2026.
The meeting was convened by the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone and included representatives from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), ECOWAS Country Office, British High Commission, Ghana High Commission, UNICEF and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), among other development partners.
The engagement provided Dr. Yumkella with an opportunity to outline the objectives, structure and long-term ambition of WAIIS while seeking stronger international partnerships and support for the summit.
Dr. Yumkella, who also chairs the Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security (PI-CREF), presented the four strategic pillars underpinning WAIIS 2026.
He explained that an Expert Group Meeting held in April 2026, involving representatives from ECOWAS Member States and technical working groups established around the four pillars, produced the Freetown Communiqué, which now serves as the strategic roadmap for the summit.
Dr. Yumkella stressed that WAIIS 2026 is designed to go beyond a traditional conference.
He described the initiative as a long-term, ECOWAS-anchored, private-sector-led and government-co-owned platform aimed at translating regional commitments into concrete investments, bankable projects and policy action through 2030.
According to him, while the upcoming summit will formally launch the platform, the work will continue beyond the event through a permanent WAIIS Secretariat, continuous Deal Room operations, annual ministerial reviews and the development of a strong pipeline of investment-ready projects.
The approach is intended to ensure that commitments made at the summit translate into tangible investments, jobs, industrial growth and stronger regional integration.
In her welcome remarks, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone, Seraphine Wakana, commended Dr. Yumkella for his continued engagement with development partners.
She reaffirmed the UN system’s readiness to listen, collaborate and support the WAIIS process.
Development partners and members of the diplomatic community welcomed the initiative and raised questions about its implementation, governance and long-term structure.
They also expressed their readiness to support efforts aimed at ensuring the successful delivery of the summit and its broader regional objectives.
With preparations gathering pace, WAIIS 2026 is being positioned as a major platform for mobilising investment, strengthening regional economic integration and turning West Africa’s resources and opportunities into sustainable economic growth.
