The Innovation & Scale Forum · Fourth edition

Two days. Three thousand people who can grow your business.

Name: ISF Forum 2026
Start: 2026-11-27T12:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-11-28T22:30:00+01:00
Location: ICC Ibadan

Founders, investors, bank executives and government officials, together in Ibadan on 27 and 28 November.

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27–28 November 2026

International Conference Centre, Ibadan · Nigeria

The Forum

Why this exists

Most businesses here stop growing at the edge of their own country. The product is usually fine. What stops them is everything on the other side of that line: rules they do not know, banks they have no relationship with, partners they have never met.

A panel session at ISF Summit 2024, International Conference Centre, Ibadan

ISF Forum puts the people who have already crossed that line in the same building as the people about to. Founders who have done it. Investors who paid for it. The regulators and bankers who can make it faster. Once a year, in Ibadan, since 2022.

Panel session · ISF Summit 2024 · ICC Ibadan

Four editions, one city

2022: 500Fifteen speakers
2023: 1,000Oyo State joins
2024: 3,000The AfDB, the U.S. Consul General
2026: 3,000Fourth edition · 27–28 Nov

This November: 20+ countries · 50+ speakers · 18 awards · 10,000+ watching online.

Headline Enterprise Finance Partner · 2026

Host state

Institutional partner

Sponsors, past and present editions

Media partners, past and present editions

Speakers

Who you will hear from

More 2026 speakers announced through October.

Speaking in 2026

Seyi Makinde
Executive Governor, Oyo State
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE
Director-General/CEO, NITDA
Iyin Aboyeji
Founding Partner, Future Africa
Dr. Vincent O. Olatunji
National Commissioner/CEO, NDPC
Satoshi Shinada
Partner/Co-founder, Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures
Nnanke Essien
Co-Founder, SiSa Consulting
Nathaneal Solomon
Managing Director, Citihoms Finance Company
Claire Lavielle
Scale Up Success Officer, Chapter54
Adeshina Adewumi
Chief Executive Officer, TradeLenda
Kehinde Ogundare
Regional Manager, Zoho West Africa
Chika Nwosu
Managing Director, PalmPay
David Nwosu
Country Manager (Nigeria), EBANX
Dr. Abiodun Adereni
Founder and CEO, HelpMum Africa
Babatunde Akin-Moses
Chief Executive Officer, Sycamore
Seyi Adeleke
Chief Executive Officer, App Click Technology
Victor Oluwole
Managing Director, Business Insider & Pulse Africa
Tunde Buremo
Founder and CEO, Cardify Africa
Feyi Makinde
Chief Executive Officer, Reeka
Prof. Obadare Peter Adewale
Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, Digital Encode Limited
Abraham Babarinde
Chief Executive Officer, UNIVAST.SPACE
Dr. Felicia Tamuno
Deputy Manager, Institutional Banking, The Alternative Bank
Ibraheem Babalola
Chief Executive Officer, ETAP
Daniel Otabor
Author, Nation Builder and Leadership Advocate
Peace Ikeoluwa Oladunjoye
Group Chief Financial Officer, EAG

Also confirmed

Kizi Okpebholo
Special Adviser, Finance, Investment and Revenue Generation, Edo State Government
Kenneth Akan
Senior Commercial Leader and TV Host, Silverbird
Olugbenga Olubanjo
Founder and CEO, Reeddi
Olamide Afolabi
Chief Executive Officer, TapandPay (Cowry)
Patrick Nkem Uzu
Country Director, Universal Learning Solutions Initiative
Adukwu Ahefu Godwin
Bridge International Academies

Who has spoken here before

Sixty people have spoken in Ibadan since 2022, among them a serving state governor, the United States Consul General, and some of the most active investors on the continent. Seven of them are below.

Will Stevens
Consul General, U.S. Consulate Lagos
Olu Akanmu
Non-Executive Director, Moniepoint
Markie Idowu
Board Member, Standard Chartered
Katharine Link
CEO, Pulse & Business Insider Africa
Ochanya Dan-ugo
Board Member, Hope PSB
Charles Bélanger
Senior MSME Expert, Kenya MFB
David Adeleke
Convener, ISF Forum

The film

One minute

We started in 2022 with five hundred people in one room in Ibadan. This is what it looks like now.

Programme

What happens across the two days

Six halls at the ICC. Friday afternoon belongs to builders: two accelerator finals running side by side, and closed-door investor meetings. Saturday opens with masterclasses upstairs, brings everyone into Thomas Hall at 11:30 for the keynote, then runs four tracks through the afternoon into the gala.

ICC Ibadan · Afternoon start · Doors 12:00

12:00
Registration and accreditation
12:30
Exhibition preview opensGallery

13:00Accelerator challenge finals

Two cohorts judged side by side, and the Deal Room

Creative and manufacturing cohortOmolayole Hall · 800 seats
Deep tech and climate cohortOgunlana Hall · 500 seats
Deal Room, early sessionOnosode Hall · 450 seats
Pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings. Invitation only.

Eight companies per cohort, five minutes each, live judging. Winners at 15:00; the top three enter the ISF investor pipeline.

15:30
Scale Up Your IPOmolayole Hall
A two-hour certified session on intellectual property commercialisation, protection and licensing.
16:30
Deal Room closes
17:30
Cocktail and networking receptionOmolayole Hall
19:00
Day one closes

Programme as at 10 October 2026 · Subject to change

The Awards

The Scale Without Borders Award

Eighteen awards recognising the African companies and people who have grown beyond the market they started in. Presented live at the gala dinner in Thomas Hall on the evening of 28 November.

Five sectors. Open to any company operating in Africa. There is no entry fee, and you can nominate your own company. Nominations close 31 October 2026.

Enter a nomination See all categories