Economy

Sahel States to participate in 2025 African Prosperity Dialogues

January 27, 2025
GNA

By Francis Ntow 

Accra, Jan. 27, GNA – The Alliance of Sahel States, comprising Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, will participate in the 2025 African Prosperity Dialogues, despite their exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). 

The African Prosperity Network (APN), convener of the Dialogues, disclosed this at a press briefing ahead of this year’s event, set for January 30 and February 1, 2025, at the Accra International Conference Centre. 

The move was to ensure that no African country was left in the transformation of the continent, as this year’s event focuses on providing solutions to the US$100 billion infrastructure gap to drive intra-Africa trade. 

Responding to questions about the involvement of the region, following their defect, Ms Asheley Asenso, the Protocol Lead at APN, said: “There are registration from these countries, and they will be sending their representatives.” 

The 2025 dialogues would be held in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. 

The APN is a non-governmental organisation who convenes the APD annual conversations, aimed at unlocking opportunities for Africa’s progress by linking actionable policies to bankable projects. 

Mr Sidig Faroug El Toum, the Chief Executive Officer, APN, also said: “we have extended invitation to these people that you have mentioned and hopefully, we’ll have representation.”  

 Meanwhile, about 3,000 participants from 46 countries, including Heads of States, business executives, institutional heads, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, ministers, and policymakers, are to participate in the 2025 ADP. 

Mr El Toum noted that the dialogues reflected owning and driving AfCFTA’s single-market agenda and urged the media to shift Africa’s narrative from poverty towards a more suitable prestigious story of the continent. 

Mr Rui Pedro Afonso Livramento, the Chief of Staff of the AfCFTA Secretariat, stated that despite progress on institutional framework, infrastructure remained a critical bottleneck to the implementation of the AfCFTA initiative. 

“Inefficient transport and logistics, for example, add about 30 to 40 per cent cost to intra-African trade process.” Mr Livramento, said, indicating the Secretariat’s approach to addressing the challenge.  

He said the AfCFTA Secretariat was championing the establishment of trade aggregators in Ghana, Egypt, Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa, to grow Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) into continental captains.  

GNA