Leaders of the 54 nations are committed to use it as a crucial instrument for growth and prosperity across Africa, and it has been dubbed one of Africa's defining undertakings since independence.
On Tuesday, May 24, a new non-profit organization will launch its flagship initiative in Accra to encourage Africa's private sector to own and drive the African Union's key aim of a single market.
Leaders of the 54 African countries who have signed up to the single market initiative (The African Prosperity Network), dubbed one of the region's defining undertakings since independence, are resolved to use it as a crucial instrument for growth and prosperity throughout the continent.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was established on January 1, 2021, establishing the world's largest economic bloc, with 1.3 billion inhabitants and a combined GDP of US$3.4 trillion.
The African Union (AU) has set a deadline of ten years to complete the economic integration project. This indicates that getting things done is really important.
Many institutional arrangements will be required. However, the corporate community must wholeheartedly support it.
The African Prosperity Network (APN), a Ghana-based Africa-focused organization, is collaborating with the AfCFTA secretariat to bring together African political and commercial leaders, as well as African thinking leaders, on a regular basis to advance the African Union's economic integration goal (AU).
Ghana is being positioned as "the commercial center of Africa" with the AfCFTA secretariat in Accra, according to Wamkele Mene, the AfCFTA Secretary-General.
The opening of the Africa Prosperity Network, which takes place at the Marriott Hotel in Accra, coincides with the African Development Bank's (AfDB) gathering of all African finance ministers this week in Accra.
The APN will organize an annual summit in Ghana where heads of state, corporate executives, and thought leaders would convene to discuss the single market idea. On Tuesday, the specifics of that annual meeting will be unveiled at the Marriott hotel.
According to those familiar with the proposal, it is "Africa's own version of Davos, the World Economic Forum, which takes place in a little town in Switzerland."