Africa private sector strives to adopt new bill for an enabling business environment

The Africa Private Sector Summit is advocating for the private sector to have a more prominent role in Africa's Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocols to ensure their timely implementation. Despite being a vital driver of Africa’s economic growth, the private sector feels its contributions have been overlooked, particularly at the recent African Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Lucy Newman, the CEO of the Africa Private Sector Summit, highlighted the need for the private sector to have a unified voice in addressing continental frameworks and engagements. She emphasized the importance of the private sector in implementing these frameworks, creating jobs, and generating revenue for governments through taxes. The Africa Private Sector Summit has developed a Private Sector Bill of Rights aimed at creating an enabling business environment and institutionalizing the private sector within Africa's economic landscape. The bill addresses key issues such as multiple taxation, free movement of goods and people, access to capital, and currency convertibility. By engaging with the private sector and harmonizing regulations, the bill aims to accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA and the AU Agenda 2063, ultimately unlocking Africa's economic potential. One of the main barriers to the adoption of proposed economic transformation frameworks in Africa is the lack of uniformity and clarity in sector classifications across different countries. Dr. Lucy Newman underscored the importance of standardizing sector classifications to facilitate targeted interventions and monitoring of progress. By streamlining sector taxonomy and data collection, African countries can align their strategies more effectively with continental agendas. The Africa Private Sector Summit plans to engage in regional vetting and validation of the Private Sector Bill of Rights across different industry clusters. This process aims to garner support from 22 heads of state before presenting the bill to the AU Heads of State for approval. The summit will work collaboratively with organizations such as the Pan-African Chamber of Commerce and the Africa Business Council to champion the bill's adoption and enhance private sector engagement across the continent. In conclusion, the Africa Private Sector Summit's advocacy for the inclusion of the private sector in continental frameworks reflects a pivotal moment in Africa's economic development. By empowering the private sector and ensuring its active participation in policy-making processes, Africa can harness its immense potential for growth, innovation, and job creation. The journey towards a more conducive business environment begins with recognizing the invaluable contributions of the private sector and working towards a collaborative and sustainable economic future for the continent.