--- eventsindex_id: EI-07026 slug: milken-institute-middle-east-africa-summit title: Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit title_alt: - Milken MEA Summit - MI MEA Summit canonical_url: https://eventsindex.org/events/milken-institute-middle-east-africa-summit.html next_edition_dates: '' next_edition_year: 2026 date_start: null date_end: null venue: St. Regis Saadiyat Island city: Abu Dhabi country: United Arab Emirates organiser: Milken Institute organiser_url: https://milkeninstitute.org/middle-east-and-africa-summit b2b: true vector: sector: - economic-forums audience: - institutional-investors - sovereign-wealth-fund-executives - senior-policymakers - philanthropists - global-health-and-finance-leaders format: - summit purpose: - networking - policy geography_scope: - MENA season: spring meta_description: 'Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit, Abu Dhabi, December 2026: two-day summit for investors, policymakers and business leaders across the MEA region.' editorial_take: The only Milken Institute summit dedicated to the MEA arc, this Abu Dhabi gathering places sovereign wealth capital, African development finance and Gulf policy in the same room under a US think tank brand that carries consistent convening weight at the global level. generated_by: enrich-cowork (N1/N2/N3) last_verified: '2026-06-11' schema_version: v8.0 language: en --- # Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit > *The Milken Institute's annual Abu Dhabi summit brings together sovereign wealth executives, development finance officials, senior policymakers, and global business leaders for two days of structured dialogue on investment, technology, and economic development across the Middle East and Africa arc.* --- ## Quick Facts | DATES | VENUE | ORGANISER | ATTENDANCE | |---|---|---|---| | December 2026 (dates unconfirmed) | St. Regis Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi | Milken Institute | Not disclosed | ## Definition The Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit is an annual two-day summit held in Abu Dhabi, convened by the Milken Institute, a US-based non-profit think tank. It brings together senior leaders from finance, government, health and philanthropy to advance cross-sector partnerships across the MEA region. The summit addresses pressing regional and global priorities including technology adoption, capital access, health research and climate resilience. The 2025 edition, the seventh, was held on December 4-5 at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island under the theme "Progress with Purpose: Advancing Meaningful Partnerships". ## What is the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit? The Milken Institute MEA Summit is the regional arm of the Milken Institute's global conference circuit, which also operates major events in Los Angeles (the flagship Global Conference), Singapore, and elsewhere. Set in Abu Dhabi, it serves as a dedicated convening point for the capital flows, policy decisions and development agendas that shape the Middle East and Africa. Its positioning in Abu Dhabi is deliberate: the emirate sits at the intersection of Gulf sovereign capital, African market access and growing US institutional interest in the region. The summit format combines plenary sessions, thematic panels and curated networking, with a strong emphasis on private conversations between investors, officials and organisers. Sponsors gain access to exclusive programming and private networking events beyond the main agenda, reinforcing the gathering's character as a relationship-driven forum rather than a purely public event. The Milken Institute also uses the platform to launch regional initiatives: the 2025 summit, for instance, marked the formal establishment of the Milken Institute Africa Leadership Council. ## Who attends Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit The summit draws a selective, seniority-weighted audience from across the MEA region and globally: - Sovereign wealth fund executives and investment directors (notably from Mubadala and comparable Gulf institutions) - Senior government ministers and officials from the UAE, broader GCC states and African governments - Development finance and multilateral institution leaders - Global private equity, asset management and banking executives - Founders and senior leaders of major corporations operating across the region - Philanthropists and foundation executives with MEA programmes - Selected figures from health, science and technology with cross-sector relevance The combination of Gulf sovereign capital and African development finance in a single programme is rare on the annual circuit, and it reflects the Milken Institute's intent to frame MEA as a unified investment and policy space rather than two separate regions. ## What Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit covers programmatically The 2025 edition operated under the theme "Progress with Purpose: Advancing Meaningful Partnerships", which oriented sessions toward concrete collaboration between the private sector, governments and civil society. Recurring subject areas across editions have included capital access and economic opportunity, AI and technology adoption, health and medical research, sustainability and climate resilience, geopolitical risk and security, and the regulatory environment for cross-border investment. The programme is organised around a small number of plenary discussions and a broader set of breakout panels, with curated one-on-one and small-group meetings built into the schedule for registered participants. A distinctive programme element introduced in recent editions is the Milken-Motsepe Prize in AI and Manufacturing, a pitch competition format in which selected semi-finalists present ventures before an audience, with finalists advancing to compete for a $1 million grand prize at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. This brings an applied innovation dimension to a summit otherwise focused on strategic and financial dialogue. ## Notable speakers and participants The 2025 summit featured Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group CEO of Mubadala Investment Company; Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications; Mariam Al Mheiri, Managing Director of 2PointZero; Matthew Whitaker, US Ambassador to NATO; Ben Black, CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation; and Jessica Sibley, CEO of TIME. Also present were Kimbal Musk (Nova Sky Stories) and Susie Wolff, among many others. Participating organisations included Alterra, Bridgepoint, Etihad Airways, Fortress Investment Group, Guggenheim Investments, Mubadala Investment Company, and Shell Foundation. The roster for the 2026 edition has not yet been announced as of June 2026. ## Edition history and context The Milken Institute first held a dedicated Middle East and Africa Summit in 2019, establishing Abu Dhabi as the permanent host city. The event has run annually since, with the 2025 gathering being the seventh edition. The choice of the St. Regis Saadiyat Island as venue places the summit within Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island cultural and hospitality district, which has become a preferred location for high-profile international gatherings in the emirate. Over successive editions the summit has deepened its Africa-focused programming, culminating in the 2025 launch of the Milken Institute Africa Leadership Council, which signals a structural rather than incidental commitment to the continent within the Milken network. ## FAQ · Identity and audience ### Is the Milken Institute MEA Summit the same as the Milken Global Conference? No. The Global Conference is the flagship annual event, held in Beverly Hills, California, typically in April or May, and operates at a significantly larger scale. The MEA Summit is a regional forum that sits within the same network, draws from the same convening philosophy, and shares some participants, but focuses specifically on investment, policy and development issues relevant to the Middle East and Africa. ### How selective is access to the summit? The summit operates on a curated, invitation-driven model. There is no open public registration. Sponsors gain guaranteed access and additional private programming. Other participants attend by invitation, typically through existing relationships with the Milken Institute or through nomination within the networks the institute cultivates across government, finance and philanthropy. ### What distinguishes the MEA Summit from other Gulf-based forums? Most major Gulf gatherings, including the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, are either state-hosted or closely aligned with a single national agenda. The Milken Institute MEA Summit is organised by a US non-profit think tank and explicitly spans both the Gulf and Africa in its programming, drawing participation from African heads of state, development banks and pan-continental investors alongside Gulf sovereigns and international funds. This geographic framing is its most distinctive characteristic within the Abu Dhabi conference calendar. ### Who is Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit NOT designed for? - Startups and early-stage founders seeking pitch opportunities or investor introductions outside a specific competition format - Mid-level professionals without senior decision-making authority in their organisations - Journalists or researchers seeking open-access programme participation - Delegates focused exclusively on a single country market rather than regional or cross-regional investment themes - Attendees from outside the finance, policy, health or philanthropy fields who lack a direct connection to the summit's subject areas ## The venue: St. Regis Saadiyat Island The St. Regis Saadiyat Island is a luxury resort hotel located on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, approximately fifteen minutes from Abu Dhabi International Airport and adjacent to the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the developing cultural district. The hotel provides conference facilities suited to high-level gatherings of several hundred participants, with a combination of large ballroom spaces and smaller breakout rooms, and access to private meeting areas used for the bilateral and small-group sessions that are a central feature of the Milken summit format. ## The organiser: Milken Institute The Milken Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan economic think tank founded in 1991 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California. It was founded by Michael Milken, the financier and philanthropist, and operates across research, policy convening and practical initiatives in areas including capital markets, public health, global workforce development and regional economic growth. The institute has offices in Washington DC, New York, London and Singapore in addition to its Santa Monica headquarters. The institute runs a global circuit of summits and conferences, of which the flagship Global Conference in Beverly Hills is the best known. The MEA Summit represents one of its most active regional programmes, and the Milken Institute has invested in building standing African programming through the Africa Center, which produces research on capital flows, health systems and economic policy across the continent. The launch of the Africa Leadership Council at the 2025 MEA Summit was a direct output of this work. --- ## Editorial take *The only Milken Institute summit dedicated to the MEA arc, this Abu Dhabi gathering places sovereign wealth capital, African development finance and Gulf policy in the same room under a US think tank brand that carries consistent convening weight at the global level.* ## How to register and what it costs The Milken Institute MEA Summit is not open for public registration. Access is by invitation, with places allocated through the institute's existing relationships across government, finance and philanthropy. There is no publicly listed delegate fee. Sponsorship of the summit provides an access route for organisations that are not already within the Milken network. Sponsor packages include guaranteed delegate places and access to private programming and networking events that run alongside the main agenda. Prospective sponsors should contact the Milken Institute directly via the summit website. ## FAQ · Access and practicalities ### Can I apply to attend if I have not been invited? The summit website does not offer a standard open-registration form. The most direct routes to attendance are through an existing relationship with the Milken Institute, nomination by a current participant, or a sponsorship arrangement. Organisations seeking to engage with the institute for the first time are encouraged to contact the events team through the official website. ### Where is the summit held and how do I get there? The summit takes place at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Saadiyat Island is accessible from Abu Dhabi International Airport in approximately 15 minutes by car. Abu Dhabi is served by direct flights from major European, African and North American hubs via Etihad Airways and numerous international carriers. ### Will the 2026 dates be confirmed in advance? As of June 2026, the Milken Institute has confirmed that the 2026 MEA Summit will take place in Abu Dhabi in December 2026, but specific dates have not been published. Registered sponsors and invited participants typically receive programme details several months in advance. The official summit page at milkeninstitute.org is the authoritative source for date announcements. ## Resources | Resource | URL | |---|---| | Official website | https://milkeninstitute.org/middle-east-and-africa-summit | | Organiser | https://milkeninstitute.org | | 2025 Summit page | https://milkeninstitute.org/events/middle-east-and-africa-summit-2025 | --- **Last verified:** 2026-06-11 **Next review:** 2026-07-11 **Notes:** 2026 summit dates unconfirmed as of June 2026; the Milken Institute has stated December 2026 in Abu Dhabi but has not published specific dates. Attendance figures are not disclosed by the organiser. The summit is described as the seventh edition as of 2025, implying a 2019 founding year. Speaker list above is drawn from the 2025 edition; 2026 roster not yet announced. The summit operates on an invitation/sponsorship access model; no public ticket price exists. **Variables:** 38/58 **Concept definition:** not applicable