The Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, has applauded his management and staff for their hard work and support throughout 2021 that has seen the smooth take-off of the Secretariat.
“I’m very happy that we have the best and brightest Africans here at the Secretariat; in the middle of the pandemic, where there is a great deal of uncertainty, we have been able to deliver on our mandate and to fully discharge and exceed expectations of what a very young secretariat is able to do,” he said at an end of year cocktail event in Accra.
The Secretary General was emphatic that the exceptional delivery of service by the staff so far has invited greater expectation for the Secretariat to deliver on its mandates in the near future.
“This demonstrates the very high expectations that the continent has of us and for that matter, we have to keep redoubling our efforts every single year so we don’t disappoint the millions of Africans who are counting on the Secretariat to place our continent on the path of sustained growth over the next decades that we’ll be pushing this agenda.”
Wamkele Mene cited the establishment of a fully operational dispute settlement mechanism under the AfCFTA as one of the flagship successes of the Secretariat so far.
“One of our successes is a very important pillar of the AfCFTA and that is the dispute settlement mechanism which is now fully operational. I believe that will be one of our flagship achievements as a secretariat.”
He explained that the dispute settlement mechanism will bring certainty and predictability to trading on the continent and demonstrate Africa’s commitment to trade law.
“We will make sure that we do all that we can to implement it fully; we also want to show the world that as Africans, we’re committed to being bound by our own rules on trade law”
He said the AfCFTA will build on the success of WTO and other Regional Economic Communities in Africa and beyond and learn from their mistakes.
“The AfCFTA seeks to learn from the mistakes and successes of the WTO and other regional economic communities around the world. The AfCFTA provides the only forum for resolution of trade and investment disputes in a way that’s legally binding.
The Ambassadors and High Commissioners of the Africa Union member states joined the staff of the AfCFTA Secretariat to treat themselves to a night of good music, networking and cocktail.
