The Africa Prosperity Network (APN) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat are getting ready to host African Heads of State, top business leaders, heads of international development institutions and DFIs, social change-makers and other Pan-African thought leaders at the next Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) in Ghana from 25-27 January 2024.

The theme for APD 2024 is: “Delivering Prosperity in Africa - Produce, Add Value, Trade.”

Ahead of this high-profile conference in Ghana, the APN secretariat, in collaboration with AfCFTA, is organising a media webinar on Tuesday, 19 December 2024, to help unpack and discuss issues that are pertinent to the realisation of the AfCFTA’s single market focus - collective ownership by the people of Africa.

Themed: “What Do You Know About the AfCFTA ― and Why Should the Media Care”, the discussion will examine the media’s role in mobilising mass engagement and participation with the AfCFTA and the opportunities opened up by it, especially as it is of immense benefit for the growth of SMEs in Africa and Global Africa (the sixth region of Africa), as well.

Tuesday’s webinar, which takes place from 14:00 hours to 15:20 hours GMT, will feature some of Africa’s media heavyweights, including, Ferial Haffajee, Joel Kibazo, Charles Onyango-Obbo, Andrew Mwenda, Mariama Sy Ba, Audrey Gadzekpo, Samuel Atta-Mensah, Elizabeth Ohene, David Ndii, Noo Saro-Wiwa and Dele Momodu.

This high-powered webinar will discuss ways of internalizing and normalizing the unfolding reality of facilitating the free movement of people, goods and services among Africa’s 1.4 billion people. It is also to prompt both AfCFTA actors and influential media players to do more to persuade people across Africa about the formidable prosperity potential of intra-African trade.

A major question that will emerge will be: What can AfCFTA and member states do to support the media to build public education about the new, open Africa, and how seriously do African journalists themselves take the task of spreading the message?

The AfCFTA, APN’s principal partner, has been at the forefront of Africa’s new trade paradigm and brought a new lease of life to the continent’s efforts to build the world’s largest single market.

However, the lingering question of how to realise the single market through actionable and bankable policy positions has been brought to the fore.

In an attempt to garner the needed actions that will engender prosperity across the continent, APD 2024, which will be hosted by President Nana Akufo-Addo in January, proposes a theme and a set of thematic areas that speak to Africa’s transformation through the prioritization of value addition economies across the continent.

The media webinar is essentially to get participants to explore and strategise on information-disseminating services and how the media can engage and inform people across the African continent, as well as global audiences, to participate actively in the AfCFTA and capitalise on the opportunities that it presents.

The webinar will feature speakers with deep knowledge of Africa’s trade ecosystem as well as an appreciation of the theme for APD 2024.

The high-profile speakers’ list will also include Frankie Edozien, Petina Gappah, Toma Imirhe, Joy Kategekwa, Peter Sewornoo and Grace Khoza, Efua Anaman, Edith Dankwa, Aminatta Forna, Liz Gomis, and Njack Kane.

Others will include, Nana Abba Anamoah, George Jahraa, Kojo Mensah, Onyekachi Wambu, and George Jahraa.

Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) is organised by the Africa Prosperity Network (APN) in collaboration with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat.

January’s dialogues will be hosted by the President of Ghana, who has invited several of his fellow African Heads of State, plus the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, President Irfaan Ali.

APD 2024 retreat will take place from 25-27 January 2024, at Peduase Presidential Lodge, Aburi Hills, in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

There will be a presidential dinner gala and the Africa Prosperity Champions Awards ceremony on the night of January 26 at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel in Accra.