Economic Integration & Private Sector Development

To promote economic integration as well as private sector development the AU is implementing several key flagship projects under Agenda 2063 as well as promoting the adoption of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the Free Movement Protocol as drivers for regional economic integration and development.

To promote private sector engagement the AU has implemented programmes that seek to form strategic partnerships with the private sector through Public Private Partnership engagements including developing strategic partnerships with African Philanthropists to support the implementation of key development initiatives at a regional and continental level. The African Economic Forum (Platform) AEP was launched as a multi-stakeholder meeting to brings together the African political leadership, the private sector, academia and civil society to reflect on how to accelerate Africa’s economic transformation harnessing its vast resources to enhance the development of the African people. The forum discusses key opportunities as well as the constraints that hamper economic development and proposes measures to be taken to realise the Aspirations and goals of Agenda 2063. The African Business Council

The creation of African Continental Financial Institutions aims at accelerating integration and socio-economic development of the continent through the establishment of organisations which will play a pivotal role in the mobilization of resources and management of the African financial sector. The financial institutions envisaged to promote economic integration are the African Investment Bank and Pan African Stock Exchange; the African Monetary Fund and the African Central Bank.

The AU also promotes the use of African data sourced from authoritative national sources to enhance the use of verified statistics and data for development. The African Charter on Statistics promotes the use of statistics for development in Africa and sets out the methodological and ethical principles which are to guarantee the production in real time of quality, harmonised statistics on Africa, in order to meet the needs and standards which make them Africa’s statistics of reference.

The African Institute for Remittances (AIR) is the AU office charged with promoting reforms to remittance regulatory frameworks of Member States aimed at reducing remittance transfer costs; improving Member States’ capacity for statistical measurement, compilation and reporting of remittance data; and assisting Member States to design strategic tools to leverage remittances for social and economic development. The institute is hosted by Kenya School of Monetary Studies (KSMS) in Nairobi Kenya.

The Economic Affairs Department promotes the work of the AU in the area of economic integration and private sector development and engagement. The department also proposes policy solutions for the resolution of Africa’s debt problem and provides a framework for the use of harmonised statistics. The department is leading the AU’s efforts for the establishment of the AU Institute for Statistics and the Statistics Training Centre

The AU Foundation focuses on engaging with private sector philanthropy to support key development initiatives on the continent such as agriculture and youth development.