Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS) is a Pan-African Private Sector Think Tank organization that seeks to convene the private sector, public sector, CSO, Labor and Academia from across Africa and the Diaspora, to advocate for favorable governance, legal, regulatory, policy, commercial, trade and investment environment that promotes business, investment and trade in Africa at the back of RECs protocols and especially drawing from the AfCFTA initiative.
APSS Summits:
Working with UNECA, CoDA, CIPE, and other partners, we organized high level discussions around the following themes:
- APSS Series 001, March 8 – 12, 2021: Doing Business Under the AfCFTA: Righting the Wrongs of Doing Business in Africa (Three African Presidents took part virtually)
- APSS Series 002, October 19 – 22, 2021: Awakening Africa's Sleeping giants in the Implementation of RECs and the AfCFTA and leveraging Strategic Opportunities for Africa's Turnaround
APSS' Foundational Milestones
- Brought together, developed and facilitated the signing of a MoU between Academia/TVET (Association of Africa Universities – AAU) and the Private Sector (Pan Africa Chambers of Commerce and Industry – PACCI). APSS recognizes the importance of formalizing relations between Academia/TVET to provide the required skills set for job creation and to propel the continent's development agenda. The MoU was concluded prior to the coming into being of the Africa Business Council (AfBC); APSS was a party to the birth of the AfBC.
- Africa Education Trust Fund (AETF): We established a committee to formalize an African Education Trust Fund. The Fund is intended to revamp Africa's education system to meet the skills set of the continent in its transition to economic independence and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- Private Sector Bill of Rights (PSBoR): With UNECA funding and facilitation, we have produced a Draft Private Sector Bill of Rights (PSBoR) for an Enabling Business Environment in Africa. This document, the first of its kind in Africa, is intended to de-risk the investment climate in Africa. The PSBoR will be domesticated across Africa.
The upcoming APSS Series 003 will address "Unleashing the Private Setor for AfCFTA and Beyond." It is scheduled for November 14 to 17, 2022 in Kigali. With support and collaboration with the Rwanda Ministry of Trade, Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Private Sector Federation (PSF) for the APSS Series III.
