Author: Maame Owusuaa Oppong
The Africa Prosperity Network (APN) has confirmed that over 3,000 delegates from more than 46 countries worldwide will converge at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) for the 2025 edition of the African Prosperity Dialogues (APD), scheduled to take place from Thursday, 30 January to Saturday, 1 February 2025.
This will feature seven African Heads of State, ensuring the event’s significance as a premier platform for advancing Africa’s economic integration and prosperity agenda.
The APD 2025, APN in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, this year’s conference will centre on the theme: “Delivering the African Single Market Through Infrastructure: Invest, Connect, Integrate.”
The dialogues aim to galvanise public and private-sector stakeholders to accelerate infrastructure investments and integration, critical to realising Africa’s vision of a single, interconnected continental market.
Sidig Faroug Eltoum, Chief Executive Officer of APN Secretariat, emphasised the event’s magnitude.
“This year’s dialogues will be unprecedented in scope, with participation from diverse global players and leadership.
…Having over 3,000 delegates and seven Heads of State join us in Accra highlights the immense interest in advancing Africa’s economic prospects through strategic infrastructure investments,” he said.
Lauding the media’s pivotal role in advancing the goals of APD, Mr Eltoum said: “We treasure and value our partnership with the media, and we sincerely thank them for their contributions [which] have materialised into a clearer and more influential role in shaping the dialogue itself, and we look forward to strengthening this collaboration”
Chief of Staff at (lAfCFTA Secretariat, Rui Pedro Afonso Livramento, underscored the critical role of infrastructure in achieving the vision of a fully integrated African single market.
He reaffirmed the Secretariat’s commitment to fostering collaborations to address infrastructure deficits that continue to impede intra-African trade.
“The AfCFTA has made significant strides since its inception, including establishing a solid institutional framework and recording growth in trade under the Guided Trade Initiative,” he said. “However, infrastructure remains a critical bottleneck. Inefficient transport and logistics add 30 to 40 per cent to intra-African trade costs, particularly affecting small and medium enterprises (SMEs).”
He said the theme “Delivering African Single Market Through Infrastructure: Invest, Connect, Integrate” by the 2025 African Prosperity Dialogues aims to underscore the importance of infrastructure development in realising the continent’s ambitious economic goals.
“This theme emphasises the crucial role of infrastructure in enabling the free movement of products, services, and investments across borders,”
Chief of Partnerships and International Relations Stephanie Diatta, of APN Secretariat outlined plans for the upcoming APD 2025, stating that the event is diverse and influential assembly will focus on strategic solutions aimed at transforming Africa’s borders into bridges of economic integration and opportunity.
