All is set for the maiden edition of the African Diplomacy and Business Dialogue (AfDiB 2025), scheduled to take place on September 3, 2025, at the Association of African Universities (AAU) in Accra.
The event is being organized by SALT University College under the theme: “Harnessing African Diplomacy for the Success of AfCFTA.”
The dialogue aims to foster discussions and initiatives that will advance the vision of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) while providing a platform for networking among stakeholders from government, diplomatic missions, trade organizations, academia, the private sector, and civil society.
Keynote speaker for the event will be Professor Lord Mawuko Yevugah, Associate Professor of Political Economy and International Relations at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). A high-level panel discussion will also feature Dr. Emmanuel Dei-Tumi, Executive Director of the Africa Future Leaders Institute of Global Affairs (AFLIGA), and Helen Appiah-Ampofo, Broadcast Journalist with TV3.
The AfCFTA, adopted in Kigali, Rwanda, in March 2018 and in force since May 2019, has already been signed by 54 out of 55 African Union (AU) member states, with 48 countries ratifying it as of February 2025. Once fully operational, the trade pact is expected to create a single market of 1.4 billion people with a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion.
Analysts project that AfCFTA could increase intra-African trade by more than 50% in the coming years by removing tariffs on 90% of goods and lowering non-tariff barriers. The agreement is also expected to shift African economies from raw material exports to value-added production, spurring industrialization, job creation, and investment across sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, technology, finance, and tourism.
SALT University College, the host institution for AfDiB 2025, was founded in 2003 as a leadership training institute and gained tertiary accreditation in 2018. Affiliated with GIMPA and the University of Cape Coast, the college currently trains master’s and PhD students from across the continent, including Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, and Togo.
The event is being chaired by Ambassador Elizabeth Adjei, Chairperson of the AfDiB 2025 Planning Committee.
