By: Kanto
Kai Okanta
African Continental Free
Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretary-General Wamkele Mene has called for coordinated
leadership, disciplined implementation and sustained follow-through to
translate Africa’s renewed development ambitions into tangible economic
results.
Mene made the call during
the closing session of the Africa Mindset Reset Forum in Kigali, where he
emphasised that a change in mindset would have limited value if it stopped at
inspiration without practical action.
He said Africa’s next
chapter must be driven by economic integration rather than political
integration alone, with the AfCFTA playing a central role in building a single
and competitive continental market.
According to Mene, effective
implementation of the AfCFTA should help remove trade barriers and facilitate
the free movement of people, goods, services and capital across African
countries.
He argued that the
fundamental resources required for Africa’s economic transformation already
exist across the continent, including its people, natural resources and
markets.
“The market exists. The
people are there. The resources are there,” Mene said, stressing that
collective action is required to turn Africa’s potential into the reality of a
global economic powerhouse.
He placed African youth at
the centre of the continent’s economic transformation agenda, arguing that the
next generation must be actively involved in translating Africa’s development
ambitions into practical outcomes.
The Secretary-General’s
remarks echoed calls made by continental leaders during the two-day forum for a
reset in how Africa thinks, leads and builds its future.
He said achieving “The
Africa We Want” would require not only a mindset reset but also collective
action, institutional commitment and consistent implementation across
generations.
