Anita Erskine is one of Africa’s most sought-after global moderators and event hosts, celebrated for her commanding presence, strategic insight, and ability to lead high-stakes dialogue with clarity and conviction. With more than 700 high-level engagements across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North America, she brings unmatched expertise to some of the world’s most consequential stages.
Her moderation portfolio spans presidential summits, diplomatic ceremonies, multilateral negotiations, investment forums, climate and innovation conferences, policy dialogues, awards ceremonies, and youth and gender equality platforms.
She has hosted flagship engagements for global powerhouses such as the United Nations, World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund (IMF), African Union, AfCFTA, ECOWAS, Afreximbank, the Portuguese Diaspora Council, and the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI). These platforms have seen her moderate in the presence of Heads of State, Ministers, Ambassadors, CEOs, and civil society leaders, across sectors and borders.
Anita’s moderation style is shaped by her deep expertise in strategic communications, storytelling for impact, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, climate resilience, gender equality, women’s leadership, youth employment, entrepreneurship, Pan-African development, and Africa–Diaspora partnerships.
Erskine navigates diverse audiences and cultural contexts with authenticity, gravitas, and intellectual depth. Whether on stage or on camera, Anita creates spaces where critical ideas are not just exchanged—but elevated, remembered, and acted upon.
The Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction was established in 1986 with support from the Nippon Foundation alongside the WHO Sasakawa Health Prize and UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize to recognize outstanding contributions to building community resilience and reducing disaster risk. This year's theme, "Connecting science to people: democratizing access to innovation and technology for disaster resilient communities," celebrates efforts to make scientific knowledge and technological solutions accessible for community resilience in our increasingly complex world.
Anita Erskine co‑moderated Mjadala Afrika, the landmark public debate of the African Union Commission Chairperson candidates, broadcast live from the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. Alongside Algerian media expert Fatima Charef, she guided a historic conversation aimed at enhancing transparency, participation, and public engagement in continental leadership selection.
This unprecedented event brought together the three official candidates—representing Kenya, Djibouti, and Madagascar—each presenting their vision for advancing Agenda 2063, strengthening AU institutions, and accelerating Pan-African integration. The dialogue addressed critical themes such as the independence of the African Standby Force, institutional reform, financial autonomy, climate resilience, and the implementation of AfCFTA.
On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, the GFF and partners held a high-level event on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly: “How Countries are Reimagining and Renewing Global Commitments to Primary Health Care.” Cohosted by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Global Financing Facility (GFF), World Bank, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the event showcased how visionary country leadership and strategic partnerships are working together to catalyze a new era of investments and innovation in #primaryhealthcare.
The event featured lively discussions between country and global champions who are driving transformative efforts to strengthen primary health care and reduce inequities, including through ensuring access to family planning and strengthening surveillance efforts for pandemic preparedness. Investing in primary health care can help countries protect health gains and build resilience to shocks—it is an investment in our collective future.
Building on the progress of the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, the outcomes of the EW4All Multi-Stakeholder Forums and broader discussions on multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS), this session highlights the importance of MHEWS and early and anticipatory action in reducing disaster risks through more inclusive, people-centred and forward-looking approaches, fundamental to fostering trust, ensuring community ownership and enhancing the long-term effectiveness of disaster preparedness efforts. Despite progress, significant gaps remain in governance, resourcing and accessibility, particularly for the most at-risk communities. This session will explore strategies to scale up MHEWS globally, focusing on governance, financing, user-centred design and cross-sectoral collaboration to advance DRR goals through 2030 and beyond.
Target F of the Sendai Framework calls for enhanced global support through sustainable financing, technology transfer and capacity-building to complement national and local efforts. Despite this emphasis, it remains the least reported among all Sendai global targets. The session will explore how international cooperation can be strengthened to accelerate localized DRR actions. It will highlight innovative and scalable DRR initiatives, particularly non-traditional mechanisms such as South-South and triangular cooperation, with an emphasis on peer-to-peer learning, city-to-city partnerships and the engagement of at-risk communities. Drawing from the perspectives of DRR policymakers and practitioners from the global South and North, the session will offer actionable recommendations for scaling up international cooperation, enhancing coordination across stakeholders at all levels and expanding partnerships to engage new actors.
The Presidential Dialogue at the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2025 brought together African Heads of State and leading private sector executives for a high-level conversation on accelerating the continent’s economic integration through strategic infrastructure investment. Held in Accra as part of the broader Africa Prosperity Dialogues, this pivotal session focused on unlocking political will and private capital to deliver the AfCFTA’s vision of a single African market. Presidents and policymakers emphasized actionable strategies to enhance connectivity across transport, energy, digital infrastructure, and trade corridors—underscoring the urgent need for coordinated leadership and investment to drive inclusive and sustainable prosperity across Africa.
The DeepTech Summit 2025, held on May 8–9 at UM6P in Benguerir, Morocco, convened over 5,500 participants from 53 countries under the theme “Redefining Progress: How AI Is Transforming Deep Tech Innovation.” The summit explored AI’s role in advancing sustainability, clean energy, health, governance, and cybersecurity, featuring 66 sessions with global experts, innovators, and investors. Highlights included reverse pitch sessions, an Innovation Village showcasing cutting-edge African prototypes, and a $50,000 startup prize. By centering research-driven ecosystems and human-centric design, DTS 2025 positioned Africa as a bold leader in using AI and deep tech to solve pressing global and regional challenges.
On 28 May 1975, fifteen West African nations came together in Lagos, Nigeria, to sign the historic Treaty establishing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Built on the vision of a united, integrated, and prosperous region, ECOWAS has since grown into the most advanced Regional Economic Community in Africa—fostering peace, security, democracy, free movement, and shared development for over 400 million citizens.
The 50th Anniversary Launch, hosted by the Government of the Republic of Ghana in partnership with the ECOWAS Commission, marks the beginning of a year-long celebration of the Community’s golden jubilee. This milestone event brings together Heads of State and Government, Ministers, senior policymakers, development partners, and cultural icons to honour the achievements of the past five decades and reaffirm a collective commitment to shaping the ECOWAS of the future—an ECOWAS of the People, stronger together, for a brighter future.
The 13th edition of the African Games was held in Accra, the nation's capital, hosted by Anita Erskine from Ghana and Jana Bouzrara from Morocco. It witnessed ten to fifteen days of exciting contests of brain and brawn by 5000 elite athletes and coaches from fifty-five African countries in twenty-nine selected sports codes. The event also had over 3000 technical officers, journalists, and global celebrities, with a TV and online audience of over 5.5 billion. Additionally, the 13th edition of the African Games was used as an official qualifier for the XXXIII Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Biashara Afrika 2024, the second edition of the AfCFTA Business Forum, was held from October 9–11, 2024, in Kigali under the theme “Dare to Invent the Future of the AfCFTA.” Co-hosted by the AfCFTA Secretariat and the Government of Rwanda, the forum convened public and private sector leaders to address structural barriers and unlock intra-African trade through value chain development, supply chain integration, digital transformation, and regulatory reforms. Key highlights included the expansion of the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative from 7 to 39 countries, over $12 billion in trade finance facilitated through AfDB support, and a strong emphasis on digital infrastructure—such as mobile money platforms and streamlined regulations—to empower SMEs, women traders, and youth across the continent.
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