Landry Signé, Realizing Africa's Potential: A Journey to Prosperity

The African genome, one of the most genetically diverse yet understudied, holds immense potential to transform global healthcare. As the cradle of human life, Africa’s genetic diversity is key to understanding the foundations of humanity. Unlocking its secrets could lead to breakthroughs in disease treatments, drug development, and personalized medicine. However, realizing this potential will require significant financial investment, capacity building, and robust ethical frameworks to ensure Africa benefits from these advancements while preventing exploitation.

This panel seeks to answer the following questions: How can understanding the African genome save lives globally? How can Africa become a biotech leader in the genomic era? And crucially, what innovative funding models can be developed to support genomic research in Africa while ensuring equitable returns for African communities?

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Africa’s relationship with developed nations has shifted from colonial rule to economic partnerships and global trade. In this session,
Farouk Gumel will explore key historical turning points and their impact on Africa’s current position. A moderated discussion will
follow, examining how Africa can build stronger, fairer partnerships and the role of business leaders, policymakers, and young
professionals in shaping the future.

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Health-focused Climate Adaptation: Innovating and Scaling Global Action for Local Impact.

Solutions for adapting healthcare to meet the threats posed by climate change remain immature. Enabling innovation and scaling solutions is a critical priority to protect vulnerable populations around the world, especially in Africa. This fireside will explore three areas of opportunity for innovation and the scaling of solutions that specifically target climate-related health challenges: 1) medical products and technologies that seek to reduce the burden of climate change on health; 2) health-related climate surveillance, early-warning, and response systems; and 3) climate-resilient healthcare infrastructure, supply chain, and workforce capabilities.

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