The African Prosperity Dialogue (APD) is an advocacy platform working with governments, businesses and other stakeholders to advance economic integration and prosperity across Africa, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has said.
He said the platform was designed not merely to provide a forum for discussions but to help translate commitments made by African leaders into practical actions that could improve the movement of people, goods, services and capital across the continent.
Mr Otchere-Darko made the remarks on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, when the APN launched the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) 2027 at a media briefing in Accra.
The fifth edition of the high-level continental integration forum is scheduled for January 27 to 29, 2027, at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra, under the theme: “The Borderless Africa We Want: Move Freely. Pay Seamlessly. Trade More.”
Registration for APD 2027 is scheduled to open on Monday, September 7, 2026.
READ: Registration for African Prosperity Dialogue 2027 opens September 7 – Gabby Okyere-Darko
According to Mr Otchere-Darko, APN’s approach is centred on building partnerships among key stakeholders and ensuring that discussions at the dialogue lead to concrete outcomes.
He cited the 2024 edition of the dialogue as an example, noting that digital trade and seamless payment systems were prominent issues in its outcome compact.
He said following APD 2024, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, in collaboration with Smart Africa, GSMA Africa and other stakeholders, passed the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol within weeks.
APN subsequently convened a symposium in July 2024 that brought together regional central banks, payment operators and telecommunications companies to explore a pathway towards continent-wide mobile money interoperability.
“We brought all the stakeholders together, the central banks of the continent, the NCAs, the payment operators, and they came up with a report on achieving the ability to buy and sell across the continent using just your mobile money,” he said.
Mr Otchere-Darko said the report was later presented to the African Union’s Mid-Year Coordination Summit held in Accra on July 21, 2024, where it was unanimously endorsed by the regional economic communities represented.
He noted that the summit subsequently committed to having a continent-wide mobile money interoperability framework operational by 2027, which aligns with the focus of APD 2027.
He therefore urged the media to strengthen advocacy around efforts to remove barriers that continue to limit intra-African commerce.
“We need the media to help push that. The advocacy must be strong,” he said.
Mr Otchere-Darko said African entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises continued to face constraints imposed by borders despite policy commitments by governments to deepen continental integration.
“We can’t have a situation where our leaders meet, agree on policies that are good for our continent, good for our economies, good for creating jobs, but are limited by the borders that were created for us by those who colonised us,” he added.
He said APD 2027 would therefore focus on practical measures to enable Africans to move more freely across borders, make seamless digital payments and trade more profitably within the continent.
The dialogue will be organised around four thematic pillars: Move Freely, focusing on aviation, mobility and smart borders; Pay Seamlessly, covering payments, fintech and digital commerce; Connect Africa, focusing on digital infrastructure, telecommunications and artificial intelligence; and Trade More, covering logistics, trade finance and regional value chains.
The 2027 edition will also formally launch the Borderless Africa Agenda 2030, which is built around two flagship reforms; a Visa-Free Africa and connected digital payment systems.
The three-day programme will feature a Business and Policy Leaders’ Dialogue on the first two days, expected to produce an Outcome Document, followed by a Presidential and Business Leaders’ Summit on the third day.
Heads of State and business leaders are expected to adopt an APD 2027 Action Compact for onward presentation to the African Union Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa in February 2027.
Mr Otchere-Darko said APN was working with a broad range of partners for the 2027 dialogue, including the African Union, AUDA-NEPAD, Borderless Alliance, African Development Bank, Afreximbank, BADEA and players in the telecommunications sector.
READ: APN launches APD 2027, sets sights on borderless Africa, digital payments and trade
He also disclosed that engagements were ongoing with Ghana’s Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation.
APD 2027 is expected to build on the 2026 edition, which attracted approximately 6,400 delegates from 94 countries.
The 2027 edition will, however, have a lower physical capacity of about 1,000 participants following a change of venue from the Accra International Conference Centre, which is undergoing refurbishment, to the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
