The most valuable convening in Kigali last quarter had no livestream and no hashtag: fourteen operators, one regulator, three hours, phones at the door. By the end, two joint ventures had their founding logic sketched on napkins. This is the ideas economy in its purest form: structured candour among people who can actually decide.
Global boards often outsource this function to conferences that are, structurally, parades. The Global South’s advantage is the opposite: markets small enough that decision-makers actually know each other, making roundtables productive rather than decorative. The lesson travelling north: fewer panels, more rooms where the agenda fits on one page.