London, UK – The UK–Africa Business, Trade & Investment Summit 2025 returns to London this September with a powerful line-up of global thought leaders and decision-makers. Prof. Luis Franceschi, Assistant Secretary-General of The Commonwealth, will deliver the opening keynote address, setting the tone for a day focused on investment, integration, and sustainable growth across the Africa–UK corridor.
Taking place at the prestigious Royal Horseguards Hotel & One Whitehall Place, the 15th edition of the summit will convene over 300 senior-level participants including institutional investors, policy architects, financiers, and industry pioneers—creating a dynamic platform for high-impact connections and deal-making.
Prof. Franceschi’s keynote will outline a strategic vision for the Africa–UK–Commonwealth economic alliance, exploring how trilateral partnerships can unlock financing for climate resilience, digital transformation, regional infrastructure, and inclusive trade.
Joining him on the main stage are:
Together, these leaders will explore how East Africa’s dynamic growth markets, when aligned with UK financial innovation and Commonwealth collaboration, can drive a new era of cross-border investment, entrepreneurship, and trade diversification.
From energy and infrastructure to agribusiness and fintech, the summit will feature in-depth sessions on:
This is a must-attend event for:
💼 Investors, venture capitalists & PE firms
🏢 Business leaders, CEOs & founders
🏗️ Infrastructure advisors & project financiers
🌍 Development experts & policy strategists
💰 Development finance institutions (DFIs)
🏛️ Government ministers & senior officials
🌎 African diaspora entrepreneurs
🌱 AgriTech & agribusiness innovators
📈 Business development executives
🏦 Banks & institutional lenders
📊 Consultants & investment analysts
🎟️ Register now for a complimentary delegate pass:
👉 www.ukafricasummit.uk
Join us in shaping the future of Africa–UK economic relations. From boardroom to policy room, the UK–Africa Business Summit is where capital meets opportunity, and vision meets action.
📌 Follow the conversation:
#UKAfricaSummit #UKAS2025 #AfricaTrade #EastAfricaGrowth #ClimateFinance #DiasporaCapital #CommonwealthInvestment
Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
Hon. Matia Kasaija
Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development – Republic of Uganda
Hon. Matia Kasaija has served as Uganda’s Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development since 2015. He oversees fiscal policy, national budgeting, public investment planning, and economic development strategy, with a focus on accelerating inclusive growth and achieving Uganda’s Vision 2040 goals.
A senior member of Cabinet and Parliament, Hon. Kasaija has played a key role in driving macroeconomic stability, public financial management reforms, and infrastructure financing. Under his leadership, Uganda has implemented major projects in transport, energy, and oil and gas, while maintaining a strong emphasis on debt sustainability and domestic resource mobilisation.
He previously served as State Minister for Finance (Planning and Economic Development) and State Minister for Internal Affairs, bringing over four decades of public service experience. His background includes leadership roles in public administration, political mobilisation, and cooperative development.
Hon. Kasaija holds a degree in Commerce from Makerere University and is known for his pragmatic approach to economic policy and fiscal discipline.
Chief Executive London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Karim Fatehi OBE, Chief Executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TBC), is expected to share insights on strengthening UK–Africa business linkages, supporting SME growth, and fostering bilateral trade through chamber-to-chamber collaboration. His perspective will highlight the critical role of business networks in enabling market access and driving sustainable commercial partnerships between the UK and Africa.
Businessman and Conservative Life Peer, House of Lords, UK
Lord Dolar Popat is a businessman, Conservative life peer in the House of Lords, and one of the UK’s most experienced parliamentary voices on UK–Africa trade and investment. Appointed to the House of Lords in 2010, he built a successful career in the hospitality and property sectors before entering public service.
Born in Uganda, Lord Popat brings a personal and strategic understanding of East Africa’s commercial landscape. As a former UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda and Rwanda, with the Democratic Republic of Congo later added to his brief, he has played an important role in strengthening bilateral trade, supporting UK business engagement, and promoting investment-led partnerships across the region.
At the UK–Africa Investment Summit 2026, Lord Popat will share practical insights on deepening UK–Africa trade and investment relations, with a focus on enterprise, private sector growth, market access, and long-term commercial partnerships.
His perspective is especially relevant to discussions on the UK–Africa–India trilateral investment corridor, Uganda’s role as the 2026 Strategic Growth Partner, and the Summit’s focus on moving from access to production, from dialogue to execution, and from interest to bankable outcomes.
A strong advocate for enterprise, education, and stronger UK–Africa economic relations, Lord Popat continues to engage with business leaders, policymakers, investors, and institutions committed to expanding commercially credible partnerships between the UK and African markets.
His contribution to UKAIS 2026 will add depth to conversations on investment diplomacy, private capital mobilisation, regional trade corridors, and the practical conditions required to turn trade ambition into structured investment, industrial partnerships, and deal execution.
Assistant Secretary General, The Commonwealth
Prof. Luis Franceschi
Assistant Secretary-General, Governance and Peace Directorate
The Commonwealth Secretariat
At the 15th UK–Africa Business, Trade & Investment Summit, Prof. Luis Franceschi will contribute to the high-level dialogue on governance, institutional trust, and regional stability as enablers of sustainable investment.
Drawing from his leadership at the Commonwealth Secretariat and deep expertise in democratic governance, Prof. Franceschi will explore how transparent institutions, rule of law, and peacebuilding frameworks are essential to unlocking long-term investment and economic partnerships across Africa. His insights will highlight the role of good governance in de-risking investment environments, ensuring social cohesion, and advancing inclusive growth in line with the ATMS pillars (Agriculture, Tourism, Manufacturing, and Science & Technology).
Prof. Franceschi’s intervention will underscore the importance of aligning public policy with investor confidence, and the Commonwealth’s role in supporting member states to build resilient, just, and peaceful societies.
$1.6b, leads as Uganda's richest individual
Dr Sudhir Ruparelia
Founder and Chairman, Ruparelia Group
Dr Sudhir Ruparelia is one of East Africa’s most influential entrepreneurs, renowned for building one of Uganda’s largest and most diversified business conglomerates. His journey from exile to success is a powerful story of resilience, vision, and disciplined growth.
Expelled from Uganda with his family during the 1972 Asian exodus, he rebuilt his life in the United Kingdom, working various jobs and venturing into real estate trading. Returning to Kampala in 1985 with $25,000 in savings, he invested in ventures that would grow into a multi-billion-dollar portfolio. Within a decade, he established Uganda’s first licensed forex bureau and later founded Crane Bank, transforming the financial sector by increasing accessibility, extending service hours, and reducing banking costs.
Today, he leads the Ruparelia Group, with investments in banking, insurance, real estate, hospitality, education, media, and floriculture. Landmark enterprises such as Speke Resort & Convention Centre, Kampala Parents School, Meera Investments, and Rosebud Ltd have become national assets. His floriculture companies export over 150 million roses annually to the UK and other markets, meeting the highest Good Agricultural Practice standards.
Dr Ruparelia’s leadership has been marked by resilience, including overcoming the loss of Crane Bank in 2016 and regaining his position through a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2022. Ranked by Forbes among Africa’s wealthiest individuals, he continues to invest with a steadfast belief in Uganda’s and Africa’s long-term potential. Through the Ruparelia Foundation, he supports initiatives in education, healthcare, and community development, cementing his legacy as both a visionary investor and a committed philanthropist.
Deputy governor of the Central Bank of Uganda
Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba is Deputy Governor of the Bank of Uganda and Chairman of REEV Group of Companies. He is an economist and public policy advisor with three decades of leadership in macroeconomic management, fiscal reform, and performance measurement across Africa. He earned an MSc from the London School of Economics in 1992, a PhD in Economics from Makerere University in 2004, an MBA focused on central bank monetary policy and commercial bank competitiveness in 2013, and a BSS from Makerere in 1990.
Prof. Nuwagaba has delivered high-level assignments for multilateral and regional institutions, including the African Development Bank, the World Bank, IGAD, UNDP, FAO, WFP, IFAD, and the East African Community. Recent work includes macroeconomic management in fragile states for AfDB, ex-post evaluation of IGAD’s Regional Investment Programme, and national capacity development strategies for Somalia and South Sudan. He led Uganda’s FINSCOPE financial inclusion survey, served on audit and advisory committees at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, and contributed to mid-term reviews of Uganda’s National Development Plans.
His portfolio spans financial sector deepening, public expenditure analysis, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, land and resettlement policy, justice sector baselines, and infrastructure and agriculture impact evaluations. He has supervised doctoral and master’s research, published widely on urbanisation, poverty reduction, skills and employment, and economic transformation, and authored the 2024 book “Transformative Economics.”
Honours include the Golden Jubilee Independence Medal (2018), Paul Harris Fellow recognition by Rotary, and inclusion in “World Who is Who” (2004). A committed Rotarian, he has held leadership roles at club and district levels.
Prof. Nuwagaba brings an evidence-led approach to stabilising prices, safeguarding financial stability, expanding access to finance, and aligning public policy with long-term growth. His work bridges government, central banking, and development partners to advance investment, productivity, and inclusive prosperity.
Senior Presidential Advisor at State House
Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu Former Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Republic of Uganda Speaker, Mining and Energy Session Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu is a senior Ugandan political leader, former Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, and private-sector businesswoman with extensive experience across energy policy, mineral development, public leadership and investment-facing reform. As Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, she played a central role in shaping Uganda’s energy and minerals agenda during one of the country’s most important transition periods. Her tenure covered major reforms and milestones across electricity generation, transmission, petroleum development, mineral governance, state participation in mining, value addition and energy transition planning. Hon. Nankabirwa led Uganda’s engagement around the Energy Transition Plan, launched at COP28, which set out a long-term pathway for universal modern energy access, energy-sector modernisation, industrial growth, emissions management and regional energy positioning. She also oversaw major infrastructure and policy priorities, including the commissioning of the 600 MW Karuma Hydropower Project, expansion of national generation capacity, power distribution reforms, petroleum infrastructure development and preparations for Uganda’s entry into commercial oil production. In the minerals sector, she was closely associated with Uganda’s shift toward stronger state participation, structured investor engagement and domestic value addition. Under the Mining and Minerals Act 2022 framework, Uganda moved to establish a state-owned mining company to manage the government’s commercial interests and 15 percent participation in large and medium-scale mining projects. This approach was designed to strengthen Uganda’s ability to retain more value from its mineral wealth while working with credible private-sector partners. At UKAIS 2026, Hon. Nankabirwa brings a rare combination of ministerial experience, sector knowledge and private-sector insight. Her contribution to the mining and energy session will help UK investors understand Uganda’s energy and minerals journey from inside government, including the policy choices, infrastructure demands, investment opportunities and implementation challenges that define the sector. Her perspective will be especially valuable in discussions on mineral beneficiation, energy infrastructure, public-private partnerships, domestic processing, investor confidence, petroleum development, power supply for industry and Uganda’s wider ambition to move from resource access to bankable industrial value.
State Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda
Hon. Amos Lugoloobi – State Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda
Hon. Amos Lugoloobi is a Ugandan economist and senior government official currently serving as the State Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development and Member of Parliament for Ntenjeru North, Kayunga District. A member of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), he plays a key role in shaping Uganda’s fiscal policy and national budget processes.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Makerere University and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI).
In Parliament, Hon. Lugoloobi actively contributes to the Business Committee, Finance Committee, and Budget Committee. Beyond politics, he supports community-driven development through projects focused on clean water, education, healthcare, and youth empowerment.
1st Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for East African Community
Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga will speak on the critical role of regional integration in accelerating economic growth and trade across Africa. She will highlight the East African Community’s (EAC) progress in harmonising trade policies, removing non-tariff barriers, and advancing cross-border infrastructure. Emphasising Uganda’s strong commitment to the AfCFTA, she will encourage UK investors to use Uganda as a strategic entry point into the EAC and the wider African market, tapping into a more unified, accessible, and opportunity-rich trade environment.
Rt. Hon. Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga
1st Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Affairs, Republic of Uganda
Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga is the 1st Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Affairs of the Republic of Uganda. She plays a central role in coordinating Uganda’s engagement within the East African Community (EAC), advancing regional integration, and promoting cross-border trade and investment.
A seasoned lawyer, legislator, and advocate for inclusive economic growth, she served as Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda from 2011 to 2021, the first woman to hold this position. Over her three decades in public service, Rt. Hon. Kadaga has championed legislative reforms to improve governance, expand access to education and healthcare, and strengthen women’s participation in leadership.
In her current role, she focuses on accelerating the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) within the EAC, fostering regional infrastructure development, and promoting sustainable investments in priority sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, and renewable energy. She also represents Uganda in high-level diplomatic and trade forums, engaging with international partners to position East Africa as a competitive and collaborative economic bloc.
Rt. Hon. Kadaga holds a Master’s degree in Women’s Law from the University of Zimbabwe, a Bachelor of Laws from Makerere University, and a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre, Kampala. She is recognised for her leadership in advancing gender equality, economic empowerment, and regional stability across Africa.
Trade & Investment Advisor | Market Access Specialist
Richard has been a firm believer in the value of the Chamber movement and active participant in The London Chamber and several bi lateral Chambers/associations for many years usually as Director, Board member and Founder. For example, The Belgrade Wealth Forum was one of his initiatives and he has on going interests particularly concerning inward investment and related service providers. As a market access and international business development specialist, Richard has an eclectic skill set and up to date knowledge in order to facilitate business and is recognised as an empathetic multicultural facilitator with wide sectoral understanding. As a self-employed ‘strategic advisor’ he is currently retained, and has been for several years, by a wide cross section of companies, Harod Global investigative solutions, WakeUp Capital, NTLTrust, AltiaIntel and Dominion of Canada Rifle Association. Plus pro bono activities for The Entrepreneur Studio , London Board of Crime Stoppers and other mentoring activities for young people.
By way of background: Richard was born in Bermuda. His family, originally from Scottland/Ireland, moved to The Bahamas in 1958. His nationality is British. He attended boarding School in Edinburgh Scotland from 8-17.Clifton Hall and Merchiston Castle. Subsequently : York University , Glendon College, Toronto Canada. BA Hons. London School of Economics. MSc.Economics . Also attended The Sorbonne and Institute of Political Studies. Paris. Trained in International Private Banking and portfolio management Geneva Switzerland.BearBull/ CMF. Geneva , Paris, Nassau. Lloyd’s Bank, NatWest Monte Carlo , Monaco. Private Banking Management .JH Minet. Lloyd’s of London Insurance brokers . International market access specialist. Lloyd’s market Insurance exams. The Sovereign Group. International market access strategic advisor. Financial services. Harod Associates. Global investigative solutions. Integrity and due diligence investigations. Memberships and other associations: Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Caledonian Club, Worshipful Company of World Traders, Institute of Strategic Risk Management, All party Parliamentary Group for International trade and logistics.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Republic of Uganda
Hon. Mwebesa is a Ugandan entrepreneur and industrialist with more than 40 years of experience in the steel industry. He is the proprietor of a group of companies spanning steel manufacturing, timber treatment, wire products, farming, and iron ore mining and processing.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi. After completing his studies in 1970, he worked with Dunlop East Africa before joining East African Steel Corporation as General Manager. In 1980, he left to establish his current group of enterprises.
Hon. Mwebesa has served on several boards, including the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, and was part of the founding board and steering group that established Centenary Bank, now one of Uganda’s leading indigenous banks.
He was a member of the Constituent Assembly that promulgated the 1995 Constitution of Uganda. He has also served as Senior Presidential Advisor and, since 2021, has been the Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Water and Environment of Uganda
Leadership Strategist | Former NATO Deputy Commander & Sandhurst Commandant
Lieutenant General Peter Pearson CB CBE
Leadership Strategist | Former Commander, British Forces Cyprus | Author
Lieutenant General Peter Pearson CB CBE brings decades of global leadership and strategic insight to the UK–Africa Business Summit 2025. Raised in East Africa, Peter spent his early years in Jinja, Uganda, and attended school in Kitale, Kenya — grounding him in the region he would later serve with distinction.
Over nearly 35 years in the British Army as a Gurkha officer, his service spanned the globe, with operational tours in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, and Kosovo. He held top command appointments including Commander British Forces Cyprus, Commandant of The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and Deputy Commander of NATO’s southern command.
Following his military career, Peter led a youth development charity before transitioning into consulting as a leadership and strategic planning expert. He is also a sought-after public speaker and author of Public Speaking, Like a Military Operation (2020). In 2024, he launched a free companion app — Public Speaking Made Simple — available on Apple and Android devices.
At the summit, he will draw on a lifetime of leadership under pressure to inspire meaningful dialogue on strategy, resilience, and international cooperation.
