GHANAIAN President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, along with other prominent African and Caribbean figures, will be the top headliners at the 30th Annual Meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) scheduled to take place in Accra from June 18 to 21, 2023.
The provisional programme released on Friday highlights President Akufo-Addo and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados as part of a distinguished line-up that includes heads of state and government, former heads of state, political leaders, business leaders, trade practitioners, trade finance experts, academia members, and senior public figures who will address participants at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2023).
Among the confirmed speakers are former Nigerian President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Donald Kaberuka, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SouthBridge Group and former President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Ambassador Albert Muchanga, Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Minerals of the African Union Commission, and Antonio Pedro, Acting Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
The programme also features prominent individuals such as Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet Global and Cassava Technologies, Arnold Ekpe, Former Group CEO of Ecobank and Chairman of the Business Council of Africa and Baobab, and Dr. Vera Songwe, Board Chair of Liquidity and Sustainability Facility, among others.
The four-day AAM2023, held under the theme, Delivering the vision: Building prosperity for Africans, will comprise keynote addresses, panel discussions, plenaries, and fireside-type conversations focusing on African trade, trade finance, and development issues, including the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Various topics will be discussed, including turbo-charging the implementation of the AfCFTA, challenges of peace and security in building prosperity for Africans, food security for sustainable development, the role of African culture and literature in African renaissance, corporate perspectives on delivering the vision, and the future of integration in Africa.
Other sessions will cover the benefits of strong continental financial institutions, interconnectivity between Africa and its diaspora, inclusive growth through sports, reflections on history and its impact on the future, industrialisation for prosperity, leveraging intra-African trade and commodity-based industrialisation, harnessing the power of science and technology, and perspectives from monetary authorities on deploying resources for sustainable development.
The Afreximbank Annual Meetings attract business and political leaders, banking professionals, trade practitioners, and stakeholders involved in economic development from across Africa and beyond. The Meetings are considered among the most important gatherings of economic decision-makers in Africa and receive coverage from African and international media.
The detailed programme for the event will be available soon on the official webpage: https://2023.afreximbankevents.com/programme/
