Time to solidify intra-Africa trade – Oppong Nkrumah tells African leaders
African Business Leaders have been encouraged to use the maiden edition of the Africa Prosperity Dialogue Series, known as the Kwahu Summit, to turn around the fortunes of Africa’s intra-African investment and trade.
Speaking at the pre-summit press conference in Accra, the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, noted that the two big needs of Africa are to increase the intra-African business story and intra-African trade story.
He said the summit provides an opportunity for African leaders and African industry to meet and finetune the kind of ideas that will open the gate to the next frontiers in Africa.
“The importance of this platform and the dialogues that will come out of it cannot be overstated. A platform like this gives us a real opportunity, not a political summit, not any other summit, but a confluence of ideas between industry practitioners and policymakers that will open the next frontiers of Africa,” he said.
According to him, it is expected that the coalition of actors from the continent will take advantage of like-minded persons and the kind of conversations that will take place to move the intra-African investment agenda and the intra-African trade agenda.
Continental progress
In his remarks, the Executive Director and Coordinator of the Summit, Dr. Eugene Owusu, noted that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) had set the stage for Africa’s industrialisation drive He believes the initiative holds the key to the prosperity of the continent.
He therefore underscored the need to leverage the AfCFTA to unleash the full potential of the continent, and to change the narrative about Africa.
In his view, the key areas that are critical to unleash the potential of the AfCFTA include the following: enhancing productive capacity such as transportation, agriculture and energy; finance, technology and innovation (including, especially, Payment Systems); critical legal and institutional constraints to the actualization of the single African market and free movement of people across borders.
“It is our hope that the maiden Kwahu Summit will help define concrete strategic actions by political and business leaders across the continent, including the right mix of policies,” he noted.
“We also do hope that the Summit will foster a greater sense of purpose for more robust intra-Africa trade to happen to support the much-needed industrialization of the continent, which is so key for the prosperity of all Africans,” he added.
According to Dr. Eugene Owusu, among other things, the organizers anticipate that the summit will help in the “sharing of best practices and, importantly, practical actions to expedite the movement of people, goods and services across the continent as envisaged under the AfCFTA.
It will as well foster stronger strategic partnerships between industry leaders and Heads of State on specific transformational projects that will accelerate implementation of the AfCFTA”.
The Summit
The Kwahu Summit will be held from January 26 to 28 January 2023 in the Eastern Region, with personalities from South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Morocco, Kenya, Cote D’Ivoire and Cameroon.
The theme for the conference, dubbed ‘Kwahu Summit’, is “AfCFTA: From Ambition to Action – Delivering Prosperity through Continental Trade”.
The Dialogue will be in two parts: Business and Policy Leaders Dialogue that will take place at the Safari Valley Resort at Adukrom in the Akwapim Hills and Presidential and Business Leaders Summit that will be held at the Peduase Presidential Lodge.
The Business and Policy Leaders’ Dialogue will bring together business executives, trade associations, ministers of state, heads of Regional Economic Communities under the AU, technocrats, women, young entrepreneurs and Thought Leaders to define practical ‘quick wins’ to move the AfCFTA initiative from Ambition to Action.
