A media briefing has taken place in Accra, ahead of the 2024 Africa Prosperity Dialogues. The call to African leaders was to channel more investment into critical sectors of the economy, increase value addition, and prioritize intra-continental trade to accelerate economic development.
Their attention is also being drawn to the need to prioritise trade on the continent to unlock Africa’s global trade and investment potential. The aim of the dialogues is to pool African and Diasporan leaders to propose actionable and bankable plans to implement across the continent.
The Executive Chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network, Mr Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, said “the economic integration of the continent is a non-negotiable tool to ensure that there is shared prosperity on the continent.”
He said objective of the network is to help rewrite the continent’s poverty-stricken narrative. The Executive Chairman mentioned the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, as an important avenue in this regard.
“If we can’t get it right now, we will never get it right. It is the biggest project since we formed the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).”
He said the summit was aimed at changing the narrative and focusing on the prosperity of the continent.
Mr Otchere-Darko said having a single market under AfCFTA was about the prosperity of the African continent, and its importance for the private sector to drive its implementation, in partnership with governments.
AfCFTA’s Secretary-General Mr Wamkele Mene’s message to the gathering said the Secretariat has a target of 2035 to lift 100 million people from poverty, by working in concert with the African Union and its organs. He was optimistic that APN was a good forum for African countries to deliberate, strategise and collaborate to leverage on Africa’s abundant resources, youthful population and expanding market to ensure delivery on the promise of the AfCFTA, saying“ it is time for Africa’s resources to drive job creation and prosperity on the continent.”
He stated that while the adoption of the outcome of last year’s dialogues was a step in the right direction, the Secretariat would look forward to how the compact would translate into actionable decisions.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ghana Prosperity Network, Mr Njack Kane, urged the media to continue to play their critical role in disseminating information about the prospects of AfCFTA and propagate narratives for its successful implementation.
For the second Africa Prosperity Dialogues, value addition to natural resources for increased intra-continental trade will be the focus. The three-day conference will take place in Aburi in the Eastern Region from January 25 to 27.
