8:00am – 8:55am
Registration
9:00am – 10:00am
Official Opening Ceremony
MC: Jerry Adjorlolo
Video Break-From Africa Prosperity Network (APN)
Special Remarks- H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat
Key Note Address and Official Opening Ceremony- H.E. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of the Republic of Ghana
10:00am -10:30am
Group Photograph
10:30am – 10:45am
The African Trade Experience – A short documentary that highlights the cross-border trading experiences of both big business and SMEs across the continent
Guided Trade Initiative video: Volunteered countries showcasing the positive possibilities of trading under the AfCFTA Agreement
10:45am – 12:45pm
High Level Session I–What will it take…? Critical Policy, Productivity Factors, Legal, Institutional and Political Actions.
It remains an imperious goal for Africa to boost its production capacity to enhance a seamless intra-Africa trade. Thus, transitioning from a producer of primary commodities and exporter of raw and unprocessed goods. This can ultimately be addressed through critical policies, efficient justice & legal systems, and resilient institutional structures, backed by political will. Fast-forward, how can political action be incentivized to ensure an effective African single market that benefits both large and small economies? Will regulating intra-continental trade through institutional reforms enable Africa to become self-sufficient? Will the common market suffer the crises of conflicting policies and legislations of existing regional trade blocs and the pressures of national interests?
Moderator – Joy Kategekwa, Senior Strategy Advisor, UNDP AFRICA
12.45pm – 1:45 pm
LUNCH BREAK
2:00pm – 3:30pm
Session II: Transitioning from Ambition to Action: Addressing Infrastructural, Food and Energy Deficit
nadequate infrastructure continues to be a major impediment to Africa achieving its full economic growth potential. Meeting the demand for key infrastructure has been identified as a priority in Africa, which remains one of the world’s fastest growing economic hubs. There is still interesting potential for increasing investments to scaleup industrial productivity, particularly in the food, energy and transportation sectors. Addressing Africa’s trade and infrastructural capacity deficits is essential for the continent to achieve prosperity, sustainable economic growth, inequality reduction, increased trade facilitation, and doubling the continent’s share of global exports. Currently, the transportation and energy sectors drive more economic activity on the continent. Therefore, failing to acknowledge this fact and increasing investments in these areas runs the risk of limiting the continent’s ability to achieve its transformative potentials
Moderator – Dr Stephen Karingi – Director, Trade Policy Division, UNECA
Lead Presenters (10mins): Seth Twum Akwaboah, Association of Ghana Industries
Panelists (35 mins)
Open Plenary – (Contribution from plenary participants) 45mins
3:30pm – 5:00pm
Session III: Leveraging Finance, Technology and Innovation
Leveraging intra-Africa trade requires sufficient financial instruments and investment to facilitate the supply chain process, thus, serving as catalyst for trade transactions between importers and exporters to preserve trade balance. Evidently, adequate financial investment is needed to support and enhance effective implementation of the AfCFTA’s agenda across the African region. Technology and innovation have also been pivotal as much as finance to positioning the continent in driving the agenda, yet, more is needed to be done to leveraging financial investment, technological transformation and innovation to achieve the Africa We Want.
Moderator: Leticia Browne- Head of Markets, Inclusion and Advocacy, Zeepay Ltd.
Lead Presenters (10 mins): Mike Ogbalu, CEO, Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), Afreximbank.
Panelists (35 mins)
Open Plenary (Contribution from plenary participants) 45min
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Technical Working Session – Deep Dive and Drafting of Outcome Document (Technical Experts and Select Business Leaders by Invitation)
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Cocktail Reception
Safari Valley Resort
Africa Prosperity Network (APN) is a private not-for-profit organization that has been established with a vision to promote Africa beyond aid.
The objective is to create platforms for holding dialogues that will reshape the thinking of African
leaders while guiding them into taking bold steps that speak to accelerated prosperity across the
continent. In this regard, trade, commerce, the structure of our national economies, political conduct, and our culture matter.
Our approach is to mobilise African leaders, both in politics and business, and help build partnerships that will reshape the principles and policies required to ensure that we place the people of Africa first.
Therefore, it is of the essence that we work towards the upliftment of the continent's standard of living, by creating an Africa conversation by Africans and for Africa in the context of the challenges and opportunities peculiar to the continent.