Ghana to host the rest of Africa at Kwahu on intra-Africa trade

The Africa Prosperity Network (APN) has announced the inception of its flagship dialogue series called the Kwahu Summit on Africa's prosperity.

The Kwahu Summit is a strategic platform where the movers and shakers of Africa's economy will elevate the objectives of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) from ambition action.

The maiden edition is slated for October 28 and 29, 2022, at the Rock City Hotel, Kwahu, and will be opened by Ghana's President, His Excellency Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

At least 16 Heads of State from all eight regional blocs of the continent will be among the 500 high profile personalities, including business leaders, financiers, investment brokers and thought leaders who will attend the summit.

It is being organised in partnership with the AfCFTA Secretariat, the Presidency of the Republic of Ghana and the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC), with sponsorship from other key continental organizations and businesses.

Under the theme "AfCFTA: From Ambition to Action; Delivering Prosperity Through Continental Trade", the Kwahu Summit on Africa's Prosperity is a one-of-a-kind event where African leaders from varied backgrounds will gather each year to accelerate implementation of the agreed interventions within the AfCFTA trade bloc, and shape the Africa Agenda for Action.

It will bring into focus the continent's critical challenges and industrialization priorities and advance the commercial and infrastructural initiatives to achieve the vision of an Africa Beyond Aid.

The unfolding adverse impacts on African economies of geopolitical events, the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the opportunities they offer for an integrated Africa Beyond Aid presents the context for the summit. Consequently, the thematic areas will include Africa's Energy Security for Industrialisation, Agribusiness and Food Security, Physical Security and Financing Africa's Transformation.

The rest are Automobile and the Green Economy, Intra-continental Transportation Infrastructure, Telecommunications, Pharmaceuticals, Intellectual Property, and Institutional and Legal Systems Affecting Free Trade across Africa.

At the Kwahu Summit, participants will formulate practical, actionable initiatives to enhance trade in Africa and create prosperity for Africans. The Summit will amplify public-private partnership, and foster collaboration among African states and businesses to develop intraAfrican trade.

It will agree on deliberate and sustainable measures to grow Africa into a manufacturing powerhouse, and create an effective platform for businesses and political leaders to build the Africa that we all yearn for.

The Kwahu Summit seeks to assist AfCFTA to deliver on its 2030 deadline to be fully operational in Africa.

It will move the intentions of Africa's Heads of State — often expressed in policies on trade and commerce — into action, and provide avenues for Africa's leading businessmen and politicians to work together to implement the African Union's (AU's) decisions.

The summit will discuss how African governments can mitigate threats to trade and commerce, assess existing economic opportunities and build partnerships between governments and business leaders to unlock them in order to improve upon the living conditions of the people of Africa.

The Executive Director and Coordinator—Summit Secretariat, Dr. Eugene Owusu said "we are delighted to confirm the staging of the Kwahu Summit on Africa's Prosperity, which we have been working on for some time now. APN is persuaded that no one will develop Africa, if Africans do not take up the challenge and initiate practical steps towards that. It requires synergies in the economic and trade policies of the countries of Africa; it demands that African countries, together, confront the challenges posed by the confluence of geography and global politics. APN will facilitate those dialogues among the leaders of the continent, to identify and exploit the opportunities that emerge, as the global play unfolds".