Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning
and Economic Development
17 and 18 March 2025
Speech of Mahmoud Ali Youssouf,
Chairperson of the African Union Commission
Your Excellency, Taye Atske Selassie, President of Ethiopia,
Your Excellency, Philémon Yang, President of the General Assembly,
Your Excellency, Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion of Zimbabwe, outgoing Chair of the Bureau,
Distinguished Ministers,
Mr. Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa,
Mr. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honoured to be taking part in the fifty-seventh session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development just a few days after taking office.
I am especially pleased because this session is dedicated to the issue of continental integration.
In addition, I am happy about the continuous dialogue between all the ministers responsible for development.
I should like to begin by offering my congratulations to the outgoing Bureau of the Conference on the work that has been done and my encouragement to the incoming Bureau, as it prepares to take up the baton.
It should not be forgotten that the Conference has not stopped thinking about complete integration and has maintained its determination to continue down that road.
This has enabled us to build on the foundations laid by the Heads of State and Government in Agenda 2063, which remains the strategic compass of the African Union.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
The agenda of this session of the Conference includes three round-table discussions, on the sub-themes of:
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The nexus between the African Continental Free Trade Area and infrastructure development
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Promoting cross-border instant payment systems and digital inclusivity in Africa, and
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Special economic zones as drivers of the development of regional value chains in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area
In view of the relevance of those sub-themes, I am inspired to share with you the approach of the African Union to regional and continental integration.
A number of hurdles must be cleared in order to implement this process, which is ultimately sure to enhance the well-being of African countries’ populations and to give the continent greater geopolitical weight on the international stage.
To begin with, at the institutional level, the integration process was given fresh impetus with the signing of the revised Protocol on Relations between the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities.
A midyear coordination meeting among the African Union, the regional economic communities, the regional mechanisms, the African Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Africa and other African stakeholders has been established.
The purpose of the meeting is to present the progress made with integration and to adopt recommendations on, among other issues, ways of overcoming obstacles to the free movement of goods and capital.
I should also like to underscore the urgent need to establish African financial institutions, which are the cornerstone of that integration.
In addition, the extent of the progress made with implementation of the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area since it was signed has contributed to its embedding into the African economic landscape.
Through the Agreement, the preconditions for the establishment of seamless intra-African trade have methodically and steadfastly been met.
This is reflected in trade facilitation; the finalization of the rules of origin, in particular for automobiles; the Guided Trade Initiative; and the establishment, in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda, of companies dedicated to trade within the African Continental Free Trade Area.
In addition, the adoption of the Protocol to the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area on Digital Trade, in February 2024, has strengthened the Area’s legal arsenal, following the adoption, in 2023, of the Protocols on Investment, Competition Policy, Intellectual Property Rights, Women and Youth in Trade and so on.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
These encouraging advances mean that we need to go further and remove the obstacles to integration at the level of the regional economic communities, which remain the pillars of the continent’s economic development.
On a negative note, I should like to mention insecurity; the lack of sustainable endogenous financing; the restrictions on the movement of people, goods and services; the low rate of industrialization; and the poor quality of physical infrastructure.
In addition, I need to highlight the structural challenges posed essentially by the continent’s deficient electricity supply and low Internet penetration rate.
According to the 2024 atlas of Africa, 600 million people on the continent are not connected to the electricity grid, which hinders the spread of Internet access and exacerbates the digital divide.
The African Union has developed strategies to address these various shortcomings.
Unfortunately, their implementation remains blocked by a lack of funding.
In conclusion, I should like to invite the member States of the African Union to give a great deal of thought to finding a lasting solution to these structural issues, which are paralysing African progress towards mastery of the technologies of the future.
Having expressed that earnest desire, I wish you every success in your work.
I thank you.