AfCFTA Implementation Will Create 14 Million Jobs And Move 50 Million Africans Out of Poverty скачать в хорошем качестве

AfCFTA Implementation Will Create 14 Million Jobs And Move 50 Million Africans Out of Poverty

LECTURE DELIVERED BY PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, IMMEDIATE PAST VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE 2025 ADEBAYO ADEDEJI MEMORIAL LECTURE THEMED: “ADVANCING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE AFRICAN CONTINENTAL FREE TRADE AREA: PROPOSING TRANSFORMATIVE STRATEGIC ACTIONS” AT THE 57TH SESSION OF THE UN ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA ON THE 17TH OF MARCH, 2025 PROTOCOLS Let me begin by thanking Mr. Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa and his team for the honour done to me by the kind invitation to give the Adebayo Adedeji Memorial Lecture. It is to the ECA that the credit goes for the original and bold thinking that birthed the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement. It continues to be instrumental in guiding its implementation, serving as a trusted technical advisor, repository of specialised knowledge, offering data-driven insights, policy recommendations, and implementation strategies to help African nations maximise the benefits of the AfCFTA. I will speak on the theme of the Conference: “Advancing the Implementation of the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area: Proposing Transformative Strategic Actions”. The Adebayo Adedeji Memorial Lecture pays homage to one of Africa’s most influential economists and policymakers: Professor Adebayo Adedeji. As the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) from 1975 to 1991, Adedeji provided bold and independent thinking at critical moments in Africa’s economic history, with the underlying theme of African integration as a developmental paradigm. Beginning with the Lagos Plan of Action 1980, an ambitious roadmap for Africa’s long-term economic development that prioritised regional integration recognising that Africa’s small, fragmented economies needed to unite and focus on industrialisation and value-added production. He championed the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes (AAF-SAP) – 1989, a response to the failures of the IMF and World Bank-imposed Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) in many African countries. Running through Adedeji’s ideas and advocacy through the years was his strong belief that the strength of each African country lay in the strength of the continent. He had presciently argued in the AAF SAP policy paper that African integration must “involve three mutually interdependent dimensions (a) the integration of the physical, social and institutional infrastructure (b) the integration of production structures and (c) the integration of the African markets.” This framework is as relevant today as it was over three decades ago. The occasion of this lecture allows us to reflect not only on Professor Adedeji’s remarkable legacy but also on how far we have come as a continent in pursuing his vision of African economic integration. It gives us an opportunity to take stock of our progress with the AfCFTA and to chart a bold course forward that honours the original ambition behind this historic agreement. From Prof. Adedeji, we learn that it is by challenging received wisdom and allowing ourselves to be bold, independent and visionary in our thinking that we will best serve the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). What makes Adedeji’s vision so enduring is his understanding that Africa’s development challenges required African solutions – solutions that recognised the continent’s unique historical context, its resource endowments, and its place in the global economy. He rejected the notion that Africa should simply follow development models designed elsewhere and instead advocated for homegrown strategies that addressed Africa’s specific needs and aspirations. It is in this spirit that we must approach the implementation of the AfCFTA not as a standard trade agreement, but as a transformative instrument designed specifically to address Africa’s unique economic developmental challenges. We must be willing to innovate, experiment, and forge new paths where existing models prove inadequate. *************************************** The official YouTube Channel for Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo, Nigerian Lawyer and Politician who served as the Vice President of Nigeria from the 29th of May 2015 to the 29th of May 2023. Before this, he served as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State from 1999 to 2007. With a background in law and governance, he currently chairs the Climate Action Platform for Africa and serves as a Global Advisor for the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. He's also the Guardian of the Timbuktoo Africa Innovation Foundation and Chair of Future Perspectives. Follow Prof. Osinbajo online: Website: www.yemiosinbajo.ng Facebook: Professor Yemi Osinbajo Twitter/X: @ProfOsinbajo Instagram: @ProfOsinbajo LinkedIn: @Prof. Yemi Osinbajo