AfCFTA Secretariat and Africa24 Media sign historic MoU

Source: Supplied.

Initialled at the AfCFTA secretariat’s headquarters in Accra by Wamkele Mene, secretary-general of AfCFTA Secretariat, and Constant Nemale, founder of Groupe Africa24 (president of Afrimedia International), the Memorandum of Understanding will enable the concrete implementation of three major actions.

These include the promotion, through the AfCFTA Secretariat to all citizens, institutional partners, companies and organisations, of actions for the realisation of priority projects such as infrastructure, energy, industry, transport, logistics, new technologies, and all initiatives to contribute to the accelerated development of Africa.

They also involve promoting the value of African commercial enterprises, whose achievements contribute to the objectives of the AfCFTA on the entire African continent; and raising awareness among the continent's citizens, young entrepreneurs and women of the assets and opportunities of the AfCFTA, which is to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of people and trade flows.

Amplifying African trade

The AfCFTA Secretariat and the leading media group Africa24 have agreed to turn this partnership into a genuine platform that promotes projects, companies and institutions through an innovative large-audience narrative, based on reference axes such as the creation of multi-media content to enhance the impact of intra-African trade; mutual organisation and participation in AfCFTA events and co-organisation of specific meetings including awards, summits, forums, and sectoral webinars.

The platform also drives content production by AfCFTA experts as well as the aggregation of all the continent's media on this new platform.

At the signing ceremony, Mene expressed his determination: “The signing of this historic memorandum of understanding with Groupe Africa24 bears witness to the importance of the media in the success of the continental free trade policy.

"The Africa24 Group, with its expertise, its audience and its benchmark leadership on Africa, will make it possible, through all communication channels, to raise awareness among all the continent's citizens of the priority objectives of the AfCFTA, in particular the establishment of an economic area for the benefit of all the peoples and countries of our continent.”

Unifying media vision

A continental commitment is, according to Nemale, a priority mission for all the continent's media: “We are honoured and proud to join the AfCFTA secretariat in this historic agreement.

"In line with the objectives assigned to us by the African Union in the MoU signed in 2019, and in synergy with our reference institutional partner the Republic of Cameroon, Africa24 Group will invest in developing premium content to serve Africa's development, in the image of the successful collaboration with Afreximbank.

"This agreement will enable Groupe Africa24 to amplify the positive effects of the AfCFTA on the continent's economic growth and integration, as well as through our leadership and our status as a member of the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB). Groupe Africa24 aims to be the catalyst for bringing together the greatest number of media in a common action and vision."

The multi-year Memorandum of Understanding, which represents a considerable asset for the AfCFTA Secretariat and the Africa24 Group, will be a platform for innovative, inclusive collaboration, for the joint construction of a more integrated and prosperous Africa in line with the African Union's Agenda 2063.