{"id":13235,"date":"2026-07-16T08:02:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T08:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/?post_type=kreisky_event&#038;p=13235"},"modified":"2026-10-14T10:47:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T10:47:52","slug":"free-trade-as-a-driver-of-africas-economic-integration","status":"publish","type":"kreisky_event","link":"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/en\/veranstaltung\/free-trade-as-a-driver-for-africas-economic-integration","title":{"rendered":"Free trade as a driver of Africa\u2019s economic integration?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>In cooperation with the Austrian Foundation for Development Research (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oefse.at\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(\u00d6FSE)<\/a> and the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vidc.org\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.vidc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(VIDC)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is Africa\u2019s most ambitious economic integration project. The political ambitions are high: the AfCFTA aims to boost intra-African trade, facilitate regional value chains, promote industrialisation, and strengthen the continent\u2019s position in the global economy. Considerable progress has been made since the Agreement entered into force in 2019, particularly in establishing its political, legal and institutional framework. However, translating the AfCFTA\u2019s political vision into tangible economic outcomes remains a complex undertaking. Successful implementation goes beyond tariff reductions and requires improvements in trade facilitation, customs procedures, transport and logistics, access to finance, regulatory cooperation, common standards and productive capacities. This event will discuss the current state of the AfCFTA, the challenges of its implementation, and what is needed to boost investment, industrialisation and employment in Africa whilst ensuring that the benefits of integration are shared across countries, regions, businesses and different sections of the population.<br>Following the discussion, guests are warmly invited to join us for a closing reception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Keynote Speech<\/em>: \"<strong>The AfCFTA as a driver of trade, production and employment: strategic considerations<\/strong>\" by<br><br><strong>H.E. Wamkele Mene<\/strong>, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area and former South African representative to the World Trade Organisation<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Followed by a panel featuring:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cynthia E. Gnassingbe \u2013 Essonam,<\/strong> Director for Private Sector Engagement and Communications, Office of the Secretary-General, African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat<br><br><strong>Leena Koni Hoffmann<\/strong>, Associate Fellow in the Africa Programme at Chatham House, UK; member of the International Council of Transparency International<br><br>Presenters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Miriam Mona Mukalazi&nbsp;<\/strong>heads the Africa Policy Programme at the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (VIDC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bernhard Tr\u00f6ster,<\/strong> Senior Researcher at the Austrian Foundation for Development Research (\u00d6FSE)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In cooperation with the Austrian Foundation for Development Research (\u00d6FSE) and the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (VIDC) The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is Africa's most ambitious economic integration project. The political ambitions are high: the AfCFTA aims to boost intra-African trade, enable regional value chains, promote industrialization, and enhance the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15494,"template":"","format":[29],"meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"schwerpunkt":[43],"class_list":["post-13235","kreisky_event","type-kreisky_event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","schwerpunkt-internationale-politik-europa-und-sicherheit","format-podiumsdiskussion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Free trade as a driver for Africa\u00b4s economic integration? - Kreisky Forum<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/en\/event\/free-trade-as-a-driver-of-africas-economic-integration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free trade as a driver for Africa\u00b4s economic integration? - Kreisky Forum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In cooperation with the Austrian Foundation for Development Research (\u00d6FSE) and the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (VIDC) The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is Africa&#039;s most ambitious economic integration project. The political ambitions are high: the AfCFTA aims to boost intra-African trade, enable regional value chains, promote industrialization, and enhance the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/en\/event\/free-trade-as-a-driver-of-africas-economic-integration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kreisky Forum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-14T10:47:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ChatGPT-Bild-8.-Okt.-2026-11_58_36.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1448\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1086\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/free-trade-as-a-driver-for-africas-economic-integration\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/free-trade-as-a-driver-for-africas-economic-integration\",\"name\":\"Free trade as a driver for Africa\u00b4s economic integration? - Kreisky Forum\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/free-trade-as-a-driver-for-africas-economic-integration#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/free-trade-as-a-driver-for-africas-economic-integration#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ChatGPT-Bild-8.-Okt.-2026-11_58_36.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T08:02:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-14T10:47:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/free-trade-as-a-driver-for-africas-economic-integration#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/free-trade-as-a-driver-for-africas-economic-integration\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/free-trade-as-a-driver-for-africas-economic-integration#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ChatGPT-Bild-8.-Okt.-2026-11_58_36.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ChatGPT-Bild-8.-Okt.-2026-11_58_36.png\",\"width\":1448,\"height\":1086},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/free-trade-as-a-driver-for-africas-economic-integration#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Veranstaltungen\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Free trade as a driver for Africa\u00b4s economic integration?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bruno Kreisky Forum\",\"description\":\"Bruno Kreisky Forum f\u00fcr internationalen Dialog\",\"alternateName\":\"BRUNO KREISKY FORUM f\u00fcr internationalen Dialog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Free trade as a driver of Africa\u2019s economic integration? \u2013 Kreisky Forum","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/en\/event\/free-trade-as-a-driver-of-africas-economic-integration","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Free trade as a driver for Africa\u00b4s economic integration? - Kreisky Forum","og_description":"In cooperation with the Austrian Foundation for Development Research (\u00d6FSE) and the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (VIDC) The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is Africa's most ambitious economic integration project. 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