OACPS Summit Marks Historic Shift From Aid to Private Capital
Malabo, Friday, 27 February 2026.
As the OACPS convenes in Malabo for its 50th anniversary, the 79-member bloc representing 1.2 billion people initiates a critical economic pivot: abandoning traditional aid reliance to aggressively court global private investment and sovereign multilateralism.
A New Era of Sovereign Multilateralism
Scheduled to take place from March 27–29, 2026, the 11th Summit of Heads of State and Government will see leaders gather in Equatorial Guinea to address the theme: “A transformed and renewed OACPS at the service of an inclusive, sustainable and trust-based multilateralism” [1]. This gathering is particularly significant as it coincides with the organization’s 50th anniversary, celebrating a timeline that spans from 1975 to 2025 [1]. The core objective of this summit is to operationalize a move away from the bloc’s historical dependence on development aid, steering instead toward a model of “sovereign multilateralism” that prioritizes sustainable private investment and South-South cooperation [1]. This strategic pivot is designed to address modern economic realities faced by the 79 member states [1].
Institutional Reforms and Preparations
In the lead-up to the Malabo summit, the OACPS Committee of Ambassadors has intensified its preparatory work to ensure the organization’s reform agenda is actionable. Musa Jobarteh, the Ambassador of Gambia, recently chaired his first meeting as Chair of the Committee, overseeing the review of the Working Group’s report on the upcoming summit [2]. These high-level diplomatic engagements are critical for aligning the diverse economic interests of the bloc before the heads of state convene next month [2]. The agenda includes strengthening partnerships and addressing institutional reforms necessary to make the OACPS a more agile player in global finance [1][2].
Operationalizing Private Capital: The Energy Sector
The shift toward soliciting private capital is already visible in the energy strategies of member nations. A prime example is Cameroon, which has launched a licensing round for nine oil and gas blocks in the Rio del Rey and Douala/Kribi-Campo basins, with a bid submission deadline set for March 30, 2026—immediately following the OACPS summit [4]. To ensure local economic benefits, the fiscal terms mandate that investors contribute significantly to national capacity building. Bidders are required to allocate a minimum of USD 100,000 per year for training during the exploration phase, a figure that jumps by 150 percent to USD 250,000 annually during the development and exploitation phases [4]. This structure exemplifies the “sovereign multilateralism” approach, where foreign direct investment is legally tethered to domestic skill development and technology transfer.
Pacific Perspectives and Future Pillars
The drive for private investment extends beyond Africa to the Pacific region. In alignment with the summit’s economic themes, the President of Palau has publicly urged for increased private U.S. investment in the Pacific, signaling a broader regional intent to diversify funding sources beyond traditional donor mechanisms [3]. Furthermore, the summit’s agenda will link these economic strategies to urgent global challenges, prioritizing climate adaptation and the bridging of the digital divide [1]. As the OACPS enters its next half-century, the Malabo summit represents a foundational step in converting diplomatic unity into tangible economic resilience.