AUDA-NEPAD CEO, Ms Nardos Bekele-Thomas hosted on 21 October the Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Mr Wamkele Mene and his team for a working session aimed at deepening collaboration between the two sister organisations.

The partnership will enable AUDA-NEPAD to work closely with the AfCFTA Secretariat, African member states, regional economic communities, the business community and strategic development partners to foster regional economic integration and growth in Africa.

Receiving AfCTA Secretary-General, in South Africa on 21 October, Ms Bekele-Thomas said "The success of the AfCFTA is the success of AUDA-NEPAD - we are in this together".  “As members of the African Union family, it is crucial that we work in tandem to amplify our impact,” she added.

The AfCFTA is one of the 13 flagship projects of Agenda 2063 of the African Union and has the potential to lift 30 million Africans out of extreme povertly.  The AfCFTA’s areas of focus are trade in goods and services, dispute settlement mechanism, customs and trade facilitation.  The objective of the AfCFTA is to significantly boost intra-Africa trade, particularly trade in value-added production and trade across all sectors of Africa’s economy.

The Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Mr Wamkele Mene, said: “Increased cooperation is at the core of the AfCFTA. Together, the Secretariat and AUDA-NEPAD can help African countries achieve their socio-economic goals.”

Mr Mene sought AUDA-NEPAD’s continuous support, “trade agreements can’t be implemented in isolation of other economic factors”.

The two organizations will draw on the depth and breadth of their experiences to develop a strong work programme of collaboration.  This will include enhancing cooperation on industrialisation, value chain development and private sector engagement amongst others.

The successful working session set the foundation for the development of a joint plan of action that will articulate clear areas of collaboration.