Victor Ezeja
AdminThe newly appointed Chairman of the Advisory and Executive Boards of the Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS) and a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, will deliver the keynote address at the Joint African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) Private Sector Session, with the Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS)
Co-Hosting an Ecosystem-based session that includes the Pan-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI), Africa Educational Trust Fund (AETF), and the AfCFTA Policy Network (APN), at the 2023 Intra-African Trade Fair hosted by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Cairo, Egypt from 9th to 15th of November, 2023, according to a statement signed by Kingsley K.N. Asah, Board Secretary of APSS.
The Joint AfCFTA Private Sector Session will feature a focused conversation on the Private Sector Bill of Rights (PSBoR) for an Enabling Business Environment in Africa proposed by the Africa Private Sector Summit. The Private Sector Bill of Rights aims to ensure a predictable and conducive climate for the vast business opportunities in intra-African trade and investment as the private sector leverages the various protocols of Africa’s Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the AfCFTA treaty, which came into effect in 2021 and has been ratified by 43 African countries and signed by 11 others.
Only 16 per cent of Africa’s global trade is regional within the continent. In contrast, 68 per cent of Europe’s global trade is within Europe, 59 per cent of Asia’s trade and 30 per cent of North American trade is intra-regional. It is estimated that when fully implemented, the AfCFTA will boost intra-African trade by 52 per cent, lift 30 million people out of poverty, and boost the continent’s GDP by USD 450 billion by 2035.
The APSS is launching a process of engagement with African leaders around the five geographic regions plus the diaspora, and governments to vet, validate and adopt a set of 24 rights for the private sector in the proposed Private Sector Bill of Rights. These include the right to peace, security and stability, effective legal systems that protect the sanctity of contracts, harmonized quality assurance standards in global trade, and a healthy consultative relationship between the public and private sectors to drive trade and investment across Africa.
The Joint AfCFTA Private Sector Session at the IATF will underscore the need for an ecosystem approach to improving trade and economic performance on the African continent, including creating and scaling up value chains. Prof. Moghalu will address the gathering of high-level international trade officials, business executives, African diplomats and political leaders on “The Private Sector Bill of Rights as a Companion Instrument to RECS and AfCFTA, to Deliver the Africa We Want”.
Mr. Wamkele Mene (South Africa), Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Yusuf Daya, Director of African Union/AfCFTA Relations and Trade Policy of Afreximbank, Ali Adji Mahamat Seid (Chad), President of the Pan-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Amany Asfour (Egypt), President of the African Business Council (ABC), and Hon. Dr. El Gabaly (Egypt), a member of the Pan-African Parliament, are billed to deliver goodwill messages and responses to Moghalu’s keynote address.
Mr. Judson Wendell Addy (Liberia), Founder and Chairman Emeritus and now a member of the Advisory Board of the Africa Private Sector Summit, will give welcome remarks.
Headquartered in Accra, Ghana like the AfCFTA Secretariat, the APSS is a pan-African, private sector-led organization that convenes private sector entities, government policymakers, civil society, labour, and academia to promote intra-African trade and investment to actualize the vision of the AfCFTA and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, “The Africa We Want”.
The Joint AfCFTA Private Sector Session will also feature panels on currency dynamics and banking systems in intra-African trade, cross-border trade logistics, the regulatory environment, and the role of the African Education Trust Fund (AETF), a key partner organization of the APSS, in aligning Africa’s wealth development with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Panelists will include Dr. Ekwo Spio-Garbrah (Ghana), Chair of the Africa Education Trust Fund and former Minister of Education and Industry of Ghana, Professor Sampson Ndoga (Zimbabwe), Co-Founder and Executive Director at the APSS, Ben Acheampong (Ghana), Co-Founder and member of the APSS Advisory Board, Dr. Lucy Surhyel Newmann (Nigeria), CEO of the APSS, Prof. Amany El-Sharif (Egypt), Vice-President of the Pan-African University, and Professor Justy Range (South Africa), Chairperson of Technofresh Pty (Ltd.).
Other panelists include Mike Ogbalu, Head of the Pan-African Payment System (PAPS) at Afreximbank, John Bosco Kalisa (Rwanda), CEO of the East African Business Council, Louis Yaw Afful (Ghana), Group Executive Director of the AfCFTA Policy Network, and Rose Mbayo, Deputy President of the African Association of Small and Medium Enterprises.
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