Africa Prosperity Network (APN) welcomes President John Dramani Mahama’s call in Moscow for the use of local currencies, integrated digital payments and greater investment in processing Africa’s resources. His message speaks directly to the practical steps needed to build Africa’s single market and deliver prosperity through increased production, investment and trade.
Speaking on 29 October at the Third Russia-Africa Summit, President Mahama declared: “To address trade imbalances and create direct market access for African goods, we must deploy modernised trade settlement mechanisms, including the use of local currencies and integrated digital payments.”
For APN, this is a timely call to action. African businesses, particularly small enterprises, women and young entrepreneurs, need payment systems that allow them to buy and sell across borders easily, affordably and securely. Connecting Africa’s mobile money wallets, banks and payment platforms can bring the opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area closer to millions of people.
The President’s accompanying call for greater investment in processing Africa’s mineral and agricultural resources is equally important. Africa must expand its productive capacity, retain more value from its resources and create jobs. Easier payments must support a continent that produces more and trades more with itself.
These priorities sit at the heart of Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2027, under the theme: “The Borderless Africa We Want: Move Freely. Pay Seamlessly. Trade More.”
Convened by APN and hosted by President Mahama in Accra on 13–15 January 2027, the Dialogues will bring together political leaders, business executives, financial institutions, regulators, entrepreneurs and civil society to advance practical solutions for Africa’s economic integration.
With strategic partners including the African Development Bank, Afreximbank, BADEA, AUDA-NEPAD and leading African multinational companies, APD 2027 will connect policy ambition with the experience of those who invest, produce, employ and trade.
The Dialogues also align closely with the African Union’s 2027 theme: “AU at the Dawn of its 25th Anniversary: Leveraging the Full Potential of Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and New Technologies for Continental Integration.”
Happening two weeks ahead of the 40th AU Summit, APD 2027 offers a strategically timely platform to articulate Africa’s private-sector and civil-society priorities and channel them into an actionable Compact for consideration by Africa’s leaders in Addis Ababa and beyond.
President Mahama’s reaffirmation in Moscow of his belief in Kwame Nkrumah’s vision of Pan-Africanism and African unity adds further significance. Ghana’s 70th independence anniversary and his anticipated AU chairmanship in 2027 present an opportunity to advance that vision through measurable action and with greater urgency.
Payments, however, are one part of the equation. People and goods must also move more freely. APN therefore urges accelerated ratification and implementation of the AU Free Movement Protocol, alongside stronger commitments to SAATM and the removal of barriers to intra-African trade.
APN invites governments, businesses, financial institutions and development partners to join us in Accra to turn these shared ambitions into commitments that make cross-border commerce work for Africans.
