What You Should Know About The Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2025

The goal of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD 2025) is to identify creative ways that African heads of state, corporate executives, and the private sector can work together to improve intra-African trade and address the continent’s infrastructure deficit.

The theme of the APD 2025, which will take place in Accra, Ghana, from Thursday, January 30, to Saturday, February 1, 2025, is— “Delivering Africa’s Prosperity Through Infrastructure: Invest, Integrate, Connect”.

More than a thousand people from all over the continent are anticipated to attend the event.

The Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) organizers, Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, Executive Chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), stated that infrastructure investment on the continent is essential to realizing the goals outlined in the AfCFTA agreement.

Despite the continent’s potential, he claimed, the lack of infrastructure acts as a stronger barrier.

“The success of AfCFTA hinges on key enablers, such as energy, water, R&D, ICT, transport & logistics, and the digital economy. This calls for substantial investments in infrastructure, that will yield even greater rewards, enabling our efforts to create a larger pool of good jobs with good pay”.

“We stand at a critical juncture in history, where unlocking prosperity, now more than ever, depends on prioritising investment in infrastructure, connecting our people through infrastructure, and integrating our economies to create and spread opportunities and prosperity to every community,” Mr Otchere-Darko added.

“This is where we must now direct our collaborative efforts if we are serious about allowing Africans to do business across Africa and for our young people, who will build Africa, to see their future in Africa. At APN, we envision an Africa where every bridge built serves as a flyover to opportunity, and every road paved leads to prosperity.

“We intend to use the next APDs to show what is being done, what has to be done, and what we must commit to having done in the areas of infrastructure to facilitate the free movement of people, goods, and services. Our future as a people rests heavily on our ability to reimagine how to fund and link infrastructural developments and our boldness to get on with it” Otchere-Darko ended.

According to Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, Ghana’s Minister for Finance,

“The challenges we face, from infrastructure deficits to economic disparities, require collective action and partnership on a continental scale. Therefore, the theme of next year’s Africa Prosperity Dialogues, “Delivering Africa’s Prosperity through Infrastructure: Invest. Integrate. Connect.” resonates deeply with Ghana’s vision for a more interconnected and prosperous Africa and AU agenda 2063.

“Africa’s infrastructure deficit impedes economic growth and development. Inadequate networks of road, rail, air, and waterways make transport costs in Africa among the highest in the world. The African Development Bank estimates that closing the continent’s infrastructure gap will require a minimum of $130 billion annually,” Mr Mohammed Amin Adam, remarked.

“Moreover, deficient infrastructure in today’s Africa has been found to sap growth by as much as 2% a year. Quite frankly, we have a continental problem that requires a continental solution. As such, we must redouble our efforts to invest in critical infrastructure projects, including transportation, energy, and digital connectivity, to unlock Africa’s full potential for trade and investment,” Ghana’s Finance Minister further remarked.