Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2025 Set for Accra

The Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) 2025 will convene from January 30 to February 1, 2025, at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra, Ghana. The event, organized by the Africa Prosperity Network (APN) in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, aims to plan the continent’s next actions under the theme “Delivering Africa’s Single Market through Infrastructure: Invest. Connect. Integrate.”

Over 3,000 participants from 46 countries, including African heads of state, institutional heads, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs, are expected to attend. The event will begin with a series of breakfast meetings, featuring critical focus areas and challenges that support this year’s theme.

Breakfast Meeting Series

The breakfast meetings will cover six critical topics, including:

– Scaling Your Business Through Strategic Technology Investment, hosted by the Ladies Entrepreneurship Club
– Bridging Infrastructure Gaps: Unleashing the Potential of SMEs and Young Entrepreneurs in Africa, hosted by the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs (GCYE)
– International Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Powering Trade for AfCFTA Roll-Out, hosted by Africa Law Practice International

(ALPi)
– Unlocking Finance for Housing and Urban Development, hosted by Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB)
– Exploring Venture Capital and Private Equity Funding Models for Infrastructure, hosted by ASIME
– Accelerating AfCFTA Implementation through Payment: Leveraging PAPSS for Enhanced Cross-Border Trade in Africa, hosted by The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS)

According to Sidig El Toum, the chief executive officer of APN, “The layout of the breakfast meetings reflects the private sector’s leadership in initiating the dialogues, ultimately owning and driving AfCFTA’s single-market agenda. It also speaks to current opportunities for industry actors, including young and women entrepreneurs across the continent.”

Tonisha Tagoe, in charge of international relations and trade liaison for APN, said, “Since its inception, the annual Africa Prosperity Dialogues have grown into a cornerstone of Africa’s economic integration and transformation.

“Now in their third year, the Dialogues continue to break new ground with expanded programming, televised discussions and an even stronger focus on actionable outcomes.”

She added, “These breakfast meetings set the stage for impactful discussions on trade, technology, finance and entrepreneurship ahead of the official opening ceremony of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2025.”

Rui Pedro Afonso Livramento, Chief of Staff at the AfCFTA Secretariat, for his part emphasized the significant progress made by the AfCFTA since its launch, with a solid institutional framework and growing trade under the guided trade initiative. However, he

noted that infrastructure remains a critical bottleneck in efficient transport and logistics, with intra-African trade costs hindering SMEs in particular.

“To address this challenge, the secretariat is promoting the establishment of trade aggregators to integrate SMEs into continental value chains, with Ghana, Egypt, Rwanda, Kenya, and South Africa leading the way” he added.

Livramento stressed that the AfCFTA Secretariat is committed to working with all stakeholders to create an enabling environment for infrastructure development. He believes that the Africa Prosperity Dialogs 2025 will generate valuable insights and momentum to accelerate progress towards a prosperous and integrated Africa.

According to AcFCTA’s Chief of Staff disclosed that the secretariat looks forward to working closely with the media to build

momentum and amplify the message that Africa is ready to deliver on its promise of economic transformation through collective action and strategic investments.

By Kingsley Asiedu