Day 3 – WEDNESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2020

HIGH-LEVEL PANEL the AfCFTA, Revitalizing Pan-Africanism and Integration

Panellists: 

H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn, Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia

Honorable Vincent Biruta, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Rwanda

Dr Stephen Karingi, Director, Regional Integration and Trade Division, Economic Commission for Africa.

Moderator: H.E. Ambassador Abdoulaye Diop, Chief of Staff, African Union Commission 

Key Takeaways:

1. African Leaders and Member States should shift focus to putting in place the necessary conditions for effective implementation of the AfCFTA
2. Physical connectivity including digital connectivity is key to implementation and trade under the AfCFTA
3. Learning from the Post COVID challenges and needs of the continent – Member States should focus on self-reliance of Africa – by creating enabling opportunities for trade regional trade – that include enhance capacities for prediction, manufacturing, logistics, supply and value chains
4. AfCFTA will lead to sustainable financing development – beyond aid
5. The AfCFTA is about people first – they would be engaged, consulted, informed and through among others effective communication, awareness-raising and inclusive governance
6. To achieve regional trade Member States must invest in young people and women – through skills development and jobs creation and livelihood opportunities
7. We have to do both – peace and security and trade for socio-economic development- we have to walk and run at the same time
8. Promoting regional trade is one of proven strategies that can help and generate development that can help us absorb these youth, women, and the populace – it is not only an economic imperative it’s also as security and regional imperative                                  

African University Essay Competition Winners

Moderator: Dr. Yonas Adaye, Director, Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) 

Winner

Darlington Tshuma, a Ph.D. candidate in the Peacebuilding Programme at the Durban University of Technology (South Africa) specializing in Peace & Conflict Studies: The AfCFTA: A milestone for Pan- Africanism and Conflict Transformation.

1st Runner-Up

Nnamani Chikezie Nchedo, Ph.D. student in the Department of Biotechnology at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria: The AfCFTA: A Milestone for Pan-Africanism and Conflict Transformation

2nd Runner-Up

Sagni Getu Sori, MA, Bahir Dar University, Faculty of Social Science, Department of Peace and Conflict Studies: The Implications of the Latest Political Developments in the Horn of Africa for the Utilization of AfCFTA and its Impediments