The Innovation & Scale Forum · Fourth edition
Two days. Three thousand people who can grow your business.
Founders, investors, bank executives and government officials, together in Ibadan on 27 and 28 November.
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.
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
Iyin Aboyeji
Chief Executive Officer, Moove
Co-Founder of Andela and Flutterwave
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. Nine of them are below.
Seyi Makinde
Executive Governor, Oyo State
Will Stevens
Consul General, U.S. Consulate Lagos
Olu Akanmu
Non-Executive Director, Moniepoint
Markie Idowu
Board Member, Standard Chartered
Satoshi Shinada
Partner, Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures
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 accreditation12:30
Exhibition preview opensGallery
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 HallA two-hour certified session on intellectual property commercialisation, protection and licensing.
16:30
Deal Room closes17:30
Cocktail and networking receptionOmolayole Hall19:00
Day one closes
Programme as at 7 September 2026 · Updated weekly
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.
Take part
How to take part
27–28 November 2026 · ICC Ibadan. Every deadline below falls before the doors open.
27–28 Nov · Ibadan