APD26: Africa’s prosperity must be driven by its people – Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Chairperson of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN) Advisory Council, H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, has emphasized that Africa’s development and prosperity must be driven by its own citizens, particularly women and youth. She made the remarks while delivering her welcome address at the Africa Prosperity Network Dialogue (APD) 2026, held in Accra on Wednesday, 4th February 2026.
APD 2026, which runs from 4th to 6th February, convened under the theme “Empowering SMEs, Women and Youth in Africa’s Single Market: Innovate. Collaborate. Trade.” The dialogue brought together heads of state, business leaders, innovators, and civil society representatives to discuss strategies for boosting intra-African trade, entrepreneurship, and youth empowerment.
Dr. Dlamini-Zuma described the APN as “the boardroom of Africa,” a platform where vision is translated into action and African prosperity narratives are shaped by Africans themselves. She stressed that empowering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), women, and youth is key to realizing Africa’s continental free trade and single market initiatives.
“The Africa we want—a continent that is integrated, prosperous, and peaceful—must harness the full potential of women and youth,” she said. “Without empowering them, Africa will go nowhere.”
Touching on key challenges, she noted that youth make up 60% of Africa’s population, yet unemployment remains structurally high, while women contribute nearly 50% of GDP but face systemic exclusion from finance and trade networks. She emphasized that empowering young entrepreneurs could generate up to 50 million jobs by 2030, and that closing the gender gap in trade could increase intra-African trade by 15% annually.
Dr. Dlamini-Zuma called for deliberate integration of women- and youth-led enterprises into regional value chains, investment in skills development, and greater access to digital technology. She urged African countries to simplify trade regimes, remove tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and design cross-border payments, logistics, and digital trade platforms that serve small businesses, not just large corporates.
On innovation and technology, she stressed that Africa must contribute to artificial intelligence (AI) development rather than merely consuming it, ensuring that African data and knowledge shape the continent’s technological future.
She also called for continental unity and the removal of artificial borders to facilitate trade and mobility, citing Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia as examples of countries successfully implementing borderless trade without security concerns.
“The measure of success for this dialogue will not be the eloquence of our discussions, but the courage of our implementation,” she said. “If we empower SMEs, women, and youth, innovate with purpose, and collaborate across borders, we will ignite hope and show African youth that their future lies here on the continent, not in perilous journeys abroad.”
