Africa’s push to transform its economy through continental integration must move beyond political commitments and motivational rhetoric toward coordinated implementation, AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said at the close of the Africa Mindset Reset Forum in Kigali.
Mene said the continent’s economic transformation will depend on sustained leadership and disciplined execution across governments and institutions, with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) at the center of efforts to build a more integrated market.
“A mindset reset is worth little if it stops at inspiration,” Mene said, according to a statement on the forum’s closing session.
The AfCFTA, which seeks to create a single African market, is intended to reduce barriers to trade and promote the movement of goods, services, people and capital across the continent.
Mene said Africa already possesses the fundamental ingredients for economic transformation, including a large market, a young population and substantial natural resources. The challenge is mobilizing those assets through collective action.
The remarks underscore the implementation challenge facing the continent’s integration agenda, where agreements between governments must translate into changes in trade practices, investment flows and the ability of businesses to operate across borders.
The AfCFTA chief argued that economic integration should become a principal driver of Africa’s next phase of development, rather than political integration alone.
A fully functioning continental market would give African businesses access to a broader consumer base while creating opportunities to build production and supply chains across multiple countries.
The forum also placed African youth at the center of the continent’s economic agenda, reflecting the need to connect the region’s growing working-age population with expanding commercial opportunities.
Mene called for implementation to be sustained “across institutions and across generations,” signaling that the benefits of the AfCFTA will depend on long-term policy consistency rather than short-term initiatives.
The Africa Mindset Reset Forum concluded in Kigali with an emphasis on turning the continent’s development ambitions into practical economic action.
“The Africa We Want is built through collective action, not inspiration alone,” the closing message said.
