President 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 APD, held under the theme, The Africa Continental Free Trade Area: From Ambition to Action Delivering Prosperity Through Continental Trade, is Ghana's  answer to the AfCFTA Secretariat's invitation to member states to submit activities aimed at or contributing towards the implementation of the AfCFTA.

"As we are all aware, the AU theme for 2023 is Acceleration of AfCFTA Implementation. In furtherance of the objective, the AfCFTA Secretariat has invited member states of our great Union to submit activities aimed at or contributing towards the implementation of the theme. Ghana, seat of the AfCFTA Secretariat, attaches significant importance to the AfCFTA because of the potential benefit to the continent. 

"Ghana, recognizing a need for the acceleration of AfCFTA, partnered with AfCFTA Secretariat at the end of January this year to convene the Africa Prosperity Dialogues. The Dialogue brought together African business executives, senior policymakers, government ministers, women, and young entrepreneurs from a large number of African countries. The Dialogues was convened under the theme, AfCFTA: From Ambition to Action - Delivering Prosperity Through Continental Trade," President Akufo-Addo said. 

"The Dialogues recognized that the AfCFTA Agreement would contribute significantly to sustainable economic growth, employment generation, the inflow of foreign direct investment, industrial development, better integration of the continent into the global economy, and prosperity for all Africans. 

"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, United Nations Development Programme, African Development Bank 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”.

“APN is persuaded that the action compact will serve as rich resources 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,” Mr Mensah said

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 Hannah 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.