Preparations are underway for the maiden edition of the African Diplomacy and Business Dialogue (AfDiB 2025), which will be held on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, at the premises of the Association of African Universities (AAU) in Accra.

The event, organized by SALT University College (SUC), will run under the theme: “Harnessing African Diplomacy for the Success of AfCFTA.”

According to the organisers, the dialogue seeks to promote discussions and initiatives that will accelerate the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

It will also provide a platform for collaboration among government agencies, diplomatic missions, trade organizations, private businesses, academia, and civil society.

The Keynote Address will be delivered by Professor Lord Mawuko Yevugah, Associate Professor of Political Economy and International Relations at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

The programme will also feature a panel discussion with Dr Emmanuel Dei-Tumi, Executive Director of the Africa Future Leaders Institute of Global Affairs (AFLIGA), and Ms. Helen Appiah Ampofo, Broadcast Journalist with TV3.

Adopted in Kigali in March 2018 and enforced since May 2019, the AfCFTA Agreement is considered the world’s largest free trade area. So far, 54 African Union (AU) Member States have signed the agreement, with 48 ratifications completed.

Once fully operational, AfCFTA is expected to create a single African market of 1.4 billion people, with a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion, while boosting intra-African trade by over 50%.

SUC, the host institution, was established in 2003 and accredited as a tertiary institution in 2018. It is affiliated with GIMPA and the University of Cape Coast (UCC), and currently admits postgraduate students from several African countries, including Angola, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda.

The AfDiB 2025 is expected to attract wide participation and contribute to policy ideas that will strengthen Africa’s integration and economic transformation.