Public–Private Partnerships: Africa’s Engine of Sovereignty, Speed and Strategy

By H.E Ambassador Godfrey Madanhire

Public–Private Partnerships are no longer technical jargon tucked into policy briefs. They are Africa’s engine of sovereignty, speed and strategy. From Dakar to Dar es Salaam, PPPs are building roads, electrifying villages, digitising classrooms and breathing life into African enterprise. They are not just delivering services. They are delivering dignity.

This is not theory. It is a movement. It is the Tourism Across Africa Project, unveiled on World Tourism Day 2025 in Abuja, where vision met velocity. Powered by Jet Age Nation Builders and endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, this expedition from Nigeria to Ethiopia is not a ceremonial tour. It is a continental mobilisation. It affirms that Africa is ready to move, together. It reminds us that borders are not barriers but bridges  and that heritage is not buried but rising.

Strategic partners such as Thuraya, Tsat Telecommunications and Zuma Coffee have not joined as spectators. They are co-authors of a new African chapter. Their investment is not transactional. It is transformational. As the delegation prepares to arrive in Addis Ababa on 27 October, they will be received by the full structure led by Ambassador Dr Young Piero Omatseye, Director of Parliament for Africa and architect of the African Union 2063 Agenda Simulation. His words cut through the noise. “This is a continental handshake between vision and execution, where Africa’s future is no longer imagined but engineered.”

That handshake becomes a summit. From 28 to 31 October, the African Union PPP and Stakeholders Summit 2025 will convene in Addis Ababa. It will bring together an array of powerful African voices, including former heads of state, continental commissioners, ambassadors,  cultural custodians, innovators and institutional leaders. The theme, Africa, The Global Powerhouse of the Future, is not a slogan.It is a call to build, not borrow. To partner, not plead. To lead, not lack.

PPP is not a Western invention. It is an African tradition retooled for modern times. It is rooted in systems of communal ownership, reciprocal exchange and strategic foresight. Whether it is a solar start-up in Ouagadougou, a fintech hub in Nairobi or a cooperative farm in Manzini, PPP allows governments to set the vision while private actors bring the velocity. It is how we build without begging. It is how we employ our youth not as labourers but as leaders.

Jet Age Nation Builders have shown what is possible when African ambition meets African execution. Their founding declaration is not just bold. It is prophetic. “We are not building projects. We are building Africa.” Their work is not logistical. It is philosophical, cultural and continental. It reminds us that unity is not a dream deferred. It is a strategy deployed.

Public–Private Partnerships are not shortcuts. They are long-distance relays. Each sector carries the baton of progress with discipline, clarity and purpose. When anchored in transparency, equity and continental vision, PPP delivers roads, jobs, dignity and unity. Africa does not lack ideas. It needs frameworks that allow those ideas to flourish. PPP is one such framework. Its time is not approaching. Its time is now.

Authored by His Excellency Ambassador Godfrey Madanhire, Diplomatic Envoy of the State of the African Diaspora, Chief Operations Officer, Radio54 African Panorama, Pan-Africanist and Advocate for Sovereign African Governance. He will be inaugurated into the simulation African Union Parliament at the upcoming event.