Akufo-Addo to AU: Adopt Africa Prosperity Dialogues’ Action Compact on implementing AfCFTA

President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has called on the African Union (AU) to adopt the Action Compact of the maiden edition of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD), which took place in Ghana last January.

Addressing the plenary at the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Governments of the African Union on the theme: “The year of AfCFTA: Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation”, President Akufo-Addo said the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (also dubbed the Kwahu Summit) was a Ghana-led initiative to bring Africa’s private sector actively on board at these early stages in the shaping and implementation process of Africa’s ambitious single market project.

“As we are all aware, the AU theme for 2023 is acceleration of the AfCFTA implementation. In furtherance of that objective, the AfCFTA Secretariat has invited member states of our great Union to submit activities aimed at or contributing to the attainment of the theme. Ghana, the seat of the AfCFTA Secretariat, attaches great importance to the AfCFTA because of the potential benefit to the continent,” Nana Akufo-Addo said.

Last month, the Ghanaian government partnered the Africa Prosperity Network, the AfCFTA Secretariat and others, to host the three-day inaugural Africa Prosperity Dialogues in the Akuapim mountains, Eastern Region.

In his remarks to the AU Sunday, President Akufo-Addo said, Ghana recognising the need for the acceleration of AfCFTA, partnered with the AfCFTA Secretariat to convene the Africa Prosperity Dialogues. It brought together Africa’s top business executives, senior policymakers, government ministers, women, and young entrepreneurs from a large number of African countries. It was the first of such dedicated platforms focusing on the experiences and suggestions from business people regarding the free movement of people, goods and services across Africa.

The Dialogues were convened under the theme, “AfCFTA: From Ambition to Action – Delivering Prosperity Through Continental Trade.”

The Dialogues are designed to provide a deliberate annual platform for Africa’s political, business and thought leaders to meet, think, plan and work together on a shared commitment to delivering, and with urgency the AfCFTA goal of building the world’s largest single market.

President Akufo-Addo underlined his country’s commitment to expediting AfCFTA’s implementation because the AfCFTA Agreement stands to “contribute significantly to sustainable economic growth, employment generation, the inflow of foreign direct investment and industrial development, he said.

He stressed that by deepening economic integration in Africa, prosperity will spread wider and faster among Africans across Africa.

On the Africa Prosperity Dialogues, Ghana’s President mentioned some of the highlights, including how it got trade ministers from several countries in one room with Africa’s top CEOs.

“It also discussed how the continent could overcome critical challenges impeding the promotion of intra-African trade such as inadequate infrastructure (transport, communications, energy, information technology), poor trade facilitation processes, access to finance, and free movement of persons. At the end of the Dialogues, a Compact, containing commitments made by governments, business executives, AfCFTA Secretariat, and partners, was reached,” the President added.

Summit records

To this end, President Akufo-Addo sought permission from the AU Commission Chairperson for the action compact of the APN to be officially admitted into the records of the 36th AU Summit.

He also called for collaboration between the AU, AfCFTA, and organizers of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues for their future engagements.

“With permission of the Chair, I would like to enter the Compact of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues into the records of this Summit and hope that the Union will support Ghana to host the African Prosperity Dialogues annually, in partnership with the AfCFTA Secretariat, collaborating with UN Economic Commission for Africa, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Africa Prosperity Network,” President Akufo-Addo said.

Rich resource documents

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the AU summit after President Akufo-Addo’s statement on the plenary, Gayheart Mensah, a Director at the Africa Prosperity Network (APN) noted, “Following the successful three-day summit, the APN is pleased to present its action compact to the leadership of the African Union (AU) and to Heads of State and Governments attending the Summit”.

He added, “APN is persuaded that the action compact will serve as a rich resource to help shape the ongoing implementation of the AfCFTA. The Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) has come to stay, and the Africa Prosperity Network (APN) looks forward to the next edition in the coming year.”

Memorandum of understanding

As part of engagements between the Executive Secretary of APN, Hannah Awuku, and officials of the African Union, following President Akufo-Addo’s call for collaboration, it was proposed that the APN and the African Union, as well as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to pave way for their future engagements.

“The APN, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors, will commence the necessary processes to ensure that the suggestion for the signing of an MoU is done within the shortest possible time,” Miss Awuku said.

“APN’s participation in the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Governments of the African Union has been an eye-opener. I am convinced that our engagements will help shape the future of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues,” she added.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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