The Africa Prosperity Network wishes to inform all partners and the general public that Heads of state of the Africa Union (AU) have unanimously adopted the Action Compact of the maiden edition of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD), which took place from the 26th to the 28th of January 2023 in Ghana.
The theme of the APD was "The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): From Ambition to Action, Delivering Prosperity through Continental Trade", and that of the 36th AU summit was "The Year of AfCFTA: Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation". This alignment of themes made the decision of the AU to unanimously adopt the action compact a strategic one.
Organizers of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) ahead of the formal adoption by the AU, presented the Action Compact to heads of state and governments who were in attendance at the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

African Union Summit

The 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union took place from Saturday 18 to Sunday 19 February 2023. The Assembly is the AU’s supreme policy and decision-making organ. It comprises all heads of state and governments of AU member states.
The Assembly determines the AU’s policies, establishes its priorities, adopts its annual program, and monitors the implementation of its policies and decisions. The 36th Summit was held under the theme, "The Year of AfCFTA: Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation."

President's Intervention

The adoption of the APD action compact by the AU followed a call by President Akufo-Addo, for the African Union Commission chairperson to officially admitted the Action Compact of the APD into the records of the 36th AU Summit when he addressed the plenary on Sunday (19 February).
In his remarks, President Akufo-Addo indicated that Ghana, recognising the need for the acceleration of AfCFTA, partnered with the AfCFTA Secretariat to convene the Africa Prosperity Dialogues.

The Dialogues, according to President Akufo-Addo, "going forward, will 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 with urgency the AfCFTA goal of building the world's largest single market". President Akufo-Addo also underlined Ghana’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 stressed that by deepening economic integration in Africa, prosperity will spread wider and faster among Africans across Africa. "

Action Compact

With the Africa Union(AU) adoption of the Action Compact of the APD, the concrete suggestions and proposals made by participating businesses and thought leaders in Africa have been tabled for further discussions and implementation to help advance the cause of the AfCFTA.

Memorandum of Understanding

As part of engagements between the Executive Secretary of APN, Hannah Awuku, and officials of the African Union after the adoption of the action compact, it was proposed that the APN and the African Union, as well as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, ought to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to pave the way for their future engagements.

"The APN, subject to the approval of its Board of Directors, will commence the necessary processes to ensure that the suggestion to sign an MoU is made within the shortest possible time," Miss Hannah Awuku stated the Africa Prosperity Network 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.

The Dialogues

The Africa Prosperity Dialogues were in two parts: first, business executives, policy leaders, business associations, ministers of state, heads of regional economic communities, senior officials from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, senior officials of the African Union Commission, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), technocrats, women and young entrepreneurs, and other thought leaders held a retreat at Safari Valley Resort, from 26-27 January 2023.
Attendees of the retreat concluded that the full implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement would attract cross-border investments by eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers and enable investors in member countries to have access to a continent of 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of US$3.4 trillion – a figure expected to grow exponentially in the years ahead.
The retreat also emphasized the centrality of the private sector in achieving the AfCFTA goals and urged African countries to undertake initiatives in support of their private sector’s access to the preferential treatment provided by the Agreement

Topics such as Ratification, Market Access, Trade Liberalisation and Dispute Resolution, Trade in Services, Negotiations on Phase II of the AfCFTA Agreement, Guided Trade Initiative, Industrialization, Innovation and Technology, Financing and Resource Mobilization, Free Movement of Persons, and Partnerships for Impact, were all up for discussion during two-days of dialogue.

Presidential and Business Dialogue

The second part was the Presidential and Business Executives' Dialogue held at Peduase Lodge, Ghana’s Presidential Retreat Center.
Identifiable groups such as the business community, governments, the AfCFTA Secretariat, and development partners called for investment in science technology and innovation to power value-added made-in-Africa production and industrialization, pursue commodity-based industrialization, facilitate the production of high-quality goods and services within the African Single Market and engage with partners to mobilize adequate resources for the implementation of the AfCFTA.

The next Africa Prosperity Dialogues

The second edition of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2024. The date and venue is expected to be announced soon.