We will not allow the old excuses of inertia, lack of capacity, resources and solidarity to continue harm stringing our forward match as a continent. So long as we continue to influence the affairs of the continent, we are committed to promoting as aggressively as possible the use of digital technology as an enabler, catalyst, resource gap bridger, coordinating mechanism, playing field leveller and dots connector in making the AfCTA experience completely different from anything that has preceded it in the decade-long quest for Africa’s economic and political unity.

We all agree the time is now, to put and build the foundation on which this Africa Prosperity will withstand.The key to the trillions of dollar economy we all project is in our people, they add the buying power of tomorrow, as we look at industrialization.Our numbers represent human capital; our continent represents the unexploited natural resources eyed by other industrializing nations.

There is the need for smart investment in critical infrastructure, as a continent. We need to produce and trade our way out of poverty and underdevelopment, and we cannot do that without investing in smart infrastructure across the continent

This first edition of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues comes in the wake of the terrible COVID-19 pandemic and especially at a time when the African Continental Free Trade Area is taking off to bring prosperity to Africa.

The world is changing and Africa has to make the right decisions..We need political will, the political decision to bring this ambition to action starting by Energy and Electricity.

I want to suggest to him [President Akufo-Addo], given that we do not have a champion on Free Movement, let my president be the champion on Free Movement. Let us have that commitment and to tell him when we meet him that he champions that. And before he become a champion, Ghana must ratify the Protocol on Free Movement,” Joseph Atta-Mensah, the principal policy advisor at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

We need to build a higher level of trust between businesses, Government and Broader civil society, that we need to move in the same direction. Building trust enables us to move from ambition to action more quickly.

The game-changer [in the development of Africa] will be the speed and scope of AfCFTA. The next two days must not be a celebration but a call to action. It is truly heart-warming to see this assembly of eminent business and policy leaders from across the continent come together around the AfCFTA and to do so with such enthusiasm and vitality.

There is the need for smart investment in critical infrastructure, as a continent. We need to produce and trade our way out of poverty and underdevelopment, and we cannot do that without investing in smart infrastructure across the continent

Air transport is very important for Africa’s socio-economic development but unfortunately air transport has seen underdevelopment. if we believe air transport is an important beacon to bring Africa prosperity to advance our ambition for the AfCFTA creation then we have to identify the issues and the challenges of developing air transport in Africa.

It is really an honour for us to be part of this dialogue because we have an opportunity as Africans [to present] a positive narrative about the challenges that we confront. Indeed, I believe that Africa’s challenges are Africa’s opportunities.

The last three days have seen some of the best African minds and expertise at work. They reiterated our collective desire to transform the African continent. The insightful discourse filled with great passion and fuelled by the wealth of cutting edge knowledge and business experience has ensured that we have a practical and pragmatic compact action plan to drive accelerated implementation of the AfCFTA