The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) has called for the urgent acceleration of Africaโs economic integration, industrialisation, and implementation of continental development frameworks as the continent marks 25 years of the AUDA NEPAD.
Delivering a speech on behalf of H.E. Dr. Fateh Boutbig, President of the Pan-African Parliament, Hon. Phillipus Wido Katamelo, Chairperson of the Pan-African Parliament Committee on Cooperation, International Relations and Conflict Resolution, addressed the AUDA-NEPAD 25th Anniversary High-Level Business Breakfast held in Cape Town under the theme: โRebuilding Africaโs Development Consensus: Regional Integration, African Ownership, and Continental Renewal.โ
The high-level gathering brought together Heads of Government, policymakers, business leaders, development finance institutions, investors, academics, and continental stakeholders to reflect on NEPADโs legacy and chart the next phase of Africaโs development trajectory.
In his address, Hon. Katamelo described NEPAD as โone of the boldest expressions of African self-belief in the post-colonial era,โ noting that its founding vision of African-led development remains highly relevant amid growing geopolitical uncertainty, technological disruption, climate challenges, and shifting global economic dynamics.
He emphasised that Africaโs development can no longer be driven through fragmented approaches and external dependency, stressing that economic sovereignty, industrialisation, and continental coordination must now define the next chapter of Pan-Africanism.
The speech highlighted the paradox of Africaโs immense resource wealth coexisting with persistent unemployment, inequality, and limited participation in global value chains. Hon. Katamelo argued that these challenges are fundamentally questions of sovereignty, leadership, and implementation.
The Pan-African Parliament reiterated strong support for the full implementation of key African Union integration frameworks, including the African Continental Free Trade Area, the Single African Air Transport Market, and the broader vision of a Common African Market.
Hon. Katamelo underscored that regional integration must become practical and operational through investments in transport corridors, rail systems, ports, integrated power pools, digital infrastructure, and regional financial systems capable of mobilising African capital for African priorities.
He further stressed the strategic role of the Pan-African Parliament in advancing legislative harmonisation, reducing regulatory barriers, modernising customs systems, simplifying border administration, and facilitating the free movement of African goods, services, talent, and capital across the continent.
Addressing business leaders and investors, Hon. Katamelo called for a new continental compact focused on implementation and long-term industrial development. He urged African pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, banks, institutional investors, and entrepreneurs to play a more central role in financing Africaโs transformation.
โAfrica needs more than investment. Africa needs builders,โ he stated, calling for strategic partnerships to develop infrastructure, manufacturing, energy systems, innovation ecosystems, and pan-African value chains.
The address further emphasised that twenty-first-century Pan-Africanism must increasingly become economic in character, rooted in integrated markets, harmonised regulation, industrial cooperation, and the collective mobilisation of African resources for African prosperity.
Concluding the address, Hon. Katamelo said the commemoration of NEPADโs 25th anniversary should serve not as a moment of nostalgia, but as the beginning of a renewed continental agenda focused on implementation, industrialisation, economic sovereignty, and African renewal.
The High-Level Business Breakfast formed part of the wider Africa Month programme organised by AUDA-NEPAD, the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, and the University of South Africa ahead of Africa Day commemorations.
