It is at the headquarters of the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg that the first edition of the Luxembourg Finance Hub For Africa Forum will be held, on 9 and 10 December 2026. The event is co-organized by the firm Acropolis Associate Group and the Think Tank Africa WorldWide Group, and positions itself as a space for dialogue between African financial centers — primarily from West and Central Africa — and one of Europe’s leading financial hubs.
Regulation and anti-money laundering at the heart of the program
The chosen theme — “Sharing experiences on the regulation of financial sectors and on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT)” — is not without significance. Sub-Saharan Africa remains under heightened scrutiny from international bodies in terms of financial compliance, and several countries in the UEMOA as well as the CEMAC zone have in recent years been subject to evaluations by the FATF or its affiliated regional bodies. The choice of Luxembourg as the setting — a top-tier European financial center, recognized for its investment fund law and its culture of regulatory compliance — is therefore not merely symbolic.
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The first day, 9 December 2026, is reserved for regulators. The CSSF will present its own supervisory model, before handing over to the AMF-UMOA, the financial markets authority of the West African Monetary Union, and then to the COSUMAF, its counterpart for Central Africa. The stated objective: an exchange of best practices between supervisory authorities, beyond regional borders.
10 December 2026 will be more focused on operational stakeholders. The COBAC (Commission Bancaire de l’Central Africa) and the CONOBAFI (Comité Ouest Africain d’Organisation et de Normalisation Bancaire et Financière) will present their respective anti-money laundering frameworks. The forum will also address reference regulatory frameworks at the global level: the European AML/CFT model, as well as the American framework, including notably the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 and the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, alongside the Corporate Transparency Act.
An ambitious agenda, open questions
The list of expected participants is particularly broad: central banks, commercial and development banks, insurance companies, pension funds, mobile money operators, fintechs, audit firms, business lawyers, microfinance institutions, deposit funds, private equity funds, and even Ministers of Finance and Budget. This diversity reflects a desire to cover the entire African financial ecosystem, but it also raises a question of targeting: can a two-day forum effectively address issues as heterogeneous as those of mobile money operators and institutional investors?
Moreover, while the communiqué highlights “sharing experiences,” it remains discreet about the expected outcomes: will common recommendations be formulated? Are mechanisms for institutional cooperation between the CSSF and African regulators being considered? The question of concrete follow-up — beyond the exchanges — deserves to be raised.
It should also be noted that the initiative comes from private actors (a consulting firm and a think tank), and not from public or multilateral institutions. This gives it a certain agility, but also limitations in terms of normative reach and official representativeness. The effective participation of African regulators — AMF-UMOA, COSUMAF, COBAC — will be a key indicator of the event’s actual credibility.
What to watch
Eighteen months ahead of the event, the concrete mobilization of the announced institutions remains to be confirmed. The forum could nonetheless be part of a broader dynamic of rapprochement between African finance and European financial centers, in a context where international compliance requirements are increasingly weighing on the continent’s institutions. The next step to watch: the publication of a detailed program and the confirmation of institutional speakers.
Source: Acropolis Associate Group / Africa WorldWide Group, June 2025
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