 As the Chinese say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Well, Africa's 57-year journey towards a single market came into being on January 2021, when the Africa continental free trade area became operational, creating a single market of 1.3 billion people and a consumer market of more than 3.4 trillion dollars. So, in part, our conversation today is a celebration of that epic journey and an opportunity to ask some tough questions on what work remains to be done. So, it's a very special welcome to your excellency, President Nana Ado Dankwa Akufo of Ghana. I'd also like to welcome the participants for this session, that's Putima Haniele Dabengua, Chief Executive Officer at NASPAS, and Daniel Minele, Executive Officer of the ABSA Group. Before we start, just a couple of housekeeping issues. So, I want to let you know that this session is going to be in two parts. The first part is the discussion that we're going to have in a few minutes. And then the second part will be a private dialogue with members of the World Economic Forum. So, to all of you who are watching today here on CNBC Africa, and also all around the world, thank you for joining us and welcome. Let me begin this session where we are talking about building an inclusive, sustainable and job-creating growth in Africa using the AFCFTA. A very warm welcome. And I'd like to pose my first question to your excellency. I'd like to ask you your excellency to share a few remarks on how Africa can build an inclusive, cohesive and sustainable recovery from this terrible pandemic. Thank you very much, Godfrey. And very warm greetings to Professor Klaus Schwab, Mrs. Hilda Schwab and everyone at Davos from the Ghanaian people and their government. I'm grateful for the chance to deliver this brief remarks on how Africa can need an inclusive, cohesive and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic has thrust the whole world into unknown and uncharted territory. And we're having to find our ways we go along. Diseases raking havoc on lives and livelihoods now more than ever with the so-called second wave. We're told that last year the world's economy shrank by 4.3 percent over two and a half times more than during the global financial crisis of 2009. The modest recovery of 4.7 percent growth rate expected for this year with barely compensating for the unprecedented losses suffered by businesses and households in 2020. The impact of the pandemic on Africa's economy has been felt in two ways. Namely from the effects of the global economic slowdown and secondly from the effects of the decline in domestic productive activities in trade, investments, manufacturing, agriculture and the operations of the financial sector. A vulnerability to external shocks have also been exposed once again as the continent enters its first recession in 25 years. Simply put the gains we have recorded in trying to create societies of opportunities for all our peoples are being seriously threatened. Hopes and I dare say expectations of a second Africa rising narrative are fast evaporating. If we are to achieve an inclusive, cohesive and sustainable recovery from the pandemic, it is crucial that we harness our own resources and deploy them as creatively and sufficiently as possible to finance the rapid economic and social transformation that we see. Clearly the multilateral system is under strain and we must do all we can to generate the needed resources for sustainable development. We in Africa should make every effort to generate for ourselves the additional funds we need to advance and hopefully our external partners, private and public, will lend their backing to the priorities we set. In addition, I believe we must undertake the following. Firstly, Africa must return to macroeconomic stability and fiscal responsibility. This will be the springboard from which sustainable recovery would be launched to support the delivery of decent jobs, resilient infrastructure, quality services and responsive governance. Secondly, Africa must leverage rapidly the use of digital technologies to enhance our socioeconomic lives. Today, education, sales and marketing, banking and many other activities of everyday life are being conducted online. African governments must thus proceed to formalize our economies to boost domestic revenue mobilization, industrialize and pursue value addition activities. Digital technology has the power to ameliorate the formulation and implementation of public policy through better data analytics. By so doing, policies will be more responsive to the needs of minorities, women and youth. Thirdly, Africa cannot leave the recovery from this pandemic by leaving more than half its population behind and underproductive. In 2020, only 47% of women of working age participated in the labor market compared to 74% of men. A gender gap that has remained relatively constant since 1995. Providing and promoting equal openings for all will sustain recovery from the ravages of this pandemic. Wherever possible, there must be an affirmative action to correct this long-standing issue. Fourthly, Africa must not relent in pursuing improved governance and building robust institutions. Robust institutions will protect the public purse, including addressing the challenges of illicit financial flows and augment service delivery to all sectors of society. Improved governance processes, through the rule of law, will engender greater participation, which will foster more cohesion and inclusivity. I have said before, the strong democracies are built by strengthening the institutions of democracy, rather than the power of men, and that the gains we have made in our democracy due to the sacrifices of great individuals must be protected by great institutions. Fifthly, Africa must implement aggressively the African Continental Free Trade Area, AFCFTA agreement, which has been ratified by 35 African countries, and training under which has begun as a first January. A well-coordinated implementation of AFCFTA will boost significantly Africa's quest to lead the recovery because of the size of the single market. With a combined gross domestic product valued at three and a half trillion American dollars and a population of some 1.3 billion people, the AFCFTA can unleash tremendous opportunities that will help bridge gaps and promote continental integration for the benefit of the African peoples. Sixthly, Africa must strengthen the strategic external partnerships, which will assist to unveil a true potential for inclusive and cohesive recovery. The matter of the African risk premium, when borrowing from the market, even as the continent provides the highest return on investments obtainable anywhere, must be addressed and with the cooperation of these partnerships eliminated. And finally, Africa must stop again with the support of our partners, the illicit arsenal of resources that cost each of our individual countries and the African continent as a whole such huge amounts of money. The conservative estimate is that annually the continent loses 50 billion United States dollars in illicit transfers. Imagine the transformation that could take place if we are successful in keeping even half of these amounts on the continent. We cannot afford to leave anyone behind in this recovery process. And this I suggest should be the governing theme of this dialogue. And thank you very much for your attention. Your Excellency, thank you very much for those words. I note your emphasis on inclusivity. I also note your emphasis on making sure that no one is left behind. And I also note your emphasis on building new collaborations and partnerships for us to be able to get out of this crisis. One of those partners, of course, has to be the private sector. And in our discussion today, we have got Puti Mahanele Tabengua. She is Chief Executive Officer of NASPAS. NASPAS, of course, plays a huge role across the African continent. It is the largest listed company on the African continent. And Puti, the question I'm putting to you is around the digital divide. What should digital transformation play in ensuring that this inclusivity that we are talking about is achieved post-COVID-19? Thank you for the question, Godfrey. Africa's digital transformation has the capacity to unlock the continent's potential driving inclusive and sustainable growth. This will ensure that, as per the third point from the President of Ghana that he just made, that we do not emerge from this pandemic having left South Africa, having left a number of people on our continent behind. And so when one looks at the African Free Trade Agreement, you see that it creates a new landscape for the continent in terms of trade, people, resources, which can help to galvanize its growth on an unprecedented scale. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the high levels of global inequality. And as President Sirama Poursa pointed out in his World Economic Forum address earlier this week, we cannot afford to restore ourselves to where we were, but rather we need to forge a new path to address our most pressing challenges. Digital transformation can help to create this new path. Africa's digital transformation has the potential to leap frog many cycles of development. We can make significant advances in enabling sustainable economic growth, ensuring we move forward collectively so that no one is left behind. The continent's burgeoning centers of technology, which include Ghana, South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, among others, are the backbone of the tech ecosystem, developing innovative products and services that compete globally and can be scaled internationally. From my own experience at NASPERS, we are leveraging our position as a group that started in South Africa and that today is building tech companies in areas such as food delivery, classifieds, payments, fintech, and online education in high growth markets like India, Brazil, China, and others. We recognize the role that technology can play towards inclusive growth and in stimulating economic participation. We partner with talented local entrepreneurs who develop products and services that address local needs. In our home market in South Africa, we are committed to playing a key role in growing and developing the country's tech ecosystem through our investments. For example, we started investing in ITEC in 2016 globally and as we recognize the opportunity to bring better education to more people over time. At the end of last year, we invested in a South African ITEC company called the Student Hub and this is an entity that partners with public vocational training colleges, improving students access, and reducing the cost of delivery of education and training. Another example of how technology is helping to take the agricultural industry back to its former glory of being the frontier for technological development as we see more investment flow back to the sector. ITEC companies like another NASPERS backed company called Aerobotics are supporting climate smart agriculture using drone and AI technology to help farmers to manage their crops and predict yields. There are many African companies like Aerobotics who are finding solutions for local markets and scaling these solutions globally. With more than 600 tech hubs across Africa, hubs are forming alliances and partners and deepening networks to provide support to tech entrepreneurs across the continent so that they can access new markets. Government and business can play an even bigger role in accelerating this momentum. Innovative financing methods that draw on public-private partnerships are critical to helping build the necessary infrastructure that creates the capacity to stimulate future growth in sectors such as manufacturing, ICT, and e-commerce. Fast-growing and youthful populations along with the under-penetration of digital services and rapid adoption of smartphones create a massive opportunity to drive the continent's digital transformation. This can enable real progress to some of Africa's most pressing societal needs so that we can build back better. For digital transformation to achieve this promise it will be important for governments to work together with each other bilaterally as well as with the private sector to ensure the regulatory environment enables investment and growth. The African Free Trade Agreement can play a key role in driving the kind of regulatory harmonization required to place Africa's digital transformation at the cornerstone of its growth aspirations. Finally, the digital economy can be a game changer for business and consumers alike in terms of access and by opening up the potential for a more inclusive economy and especially for women to be empowered and own their future. Youth and women can play a greater role than before from taking advantage of these skills developed through online learning for example to creating their own businesses. This empowerment is critical to creating opportunities that help to catalyze economic growth particularly as part of our long-term recovery post-COVID. Thank you, Godre. Thank you, Puti. Thank you. So, innovation is not alien to Africa. Innovation certainly has been happening in Africa and it is evident in the company that we're talking about today which is, of course, NASPAs. You speak, Puti, of the need to standardize regulations across the African continent as a key component in making sure that we build the partnerships that we require between the private sector and government. But we need money, of course, and we do have a money man in the room. That's Daniel Minele, his Chief Executive Officer of the APSA Group. Daniel, my question to you is how important is funding in the conversation that we're having here today? And what role do banks and private sector players like yourselves, like the Putis of Africa, play in that conversation? Good afternoon and thank you, Godfrey. Thanks for the invitation and it's obviously an absolute honor to share this platform with His Excellency, President Akut for Ado, and my good friend and compatriot, Puti Minele, Dabengua. I think funding is a key consideration. As we enter 2021, we continue to be subjected to high levels of uncertainties and are receiving signals that are somewhat contradictory when it comes to economic recovery. On the one hand, we have second waves of the pandemic playing out in different parts of the world that have a downside risk for the global economy and on the other that are of course expectations that will return to more normal levels of economic activity over the medium term on the back of broader availability of vaccines and assuming, of course, we can deal with vaccine related trade tensions. But it seems to suggest that we will deal, we'll have to deal with an uneven recovery path between countries and regions and this will have to do directly with the resources that are available to fuel the recovery. So access to medical interventions, the effectiveness of policy interventions and measures that were taken to support the economy and structural characteristics that may even have pre-existed COVID are some of those issues. So countries that would have entered the crisis with weak economic governance and poor fiscal positions, high levels of debt will take longer to recover. And I suppose the IMF forecast that was released a couple of days ago is quite instructive in this regard, Godfrey. You can see an increasing gap between the Sub-Saharan Africa growth rate for this year, 2021, which is projected at 3.2 percent when compared to other emerging markets and developing economies that are projected to average 6.3 percent, which partly is a reflection of limited resources available to power Africa's growth. So the discussion on economic recovery must center on funding as the continent faces significant funding gaps and estimates. But I'm effort that Africa's cumulative gross external funding means for the next period between 2020 and 2023 amounts to as much as $1.2 trillion. So funding is necessary to implement effective vaccination strategy. Power the recovery and invest in transformative infrastructure and of course, well at the same time, taking care that climate change risks and building resilience against those who have taken into account. So we need to leverage public funds and infrastructure investments better while encouraging the private sector to participate in this. And this becomes very clear when we consider how strained fiscal resources are which have had to be put to use to try and support the economy and finance social safety nets in the week of the pandemic. And that suggests to me that there needs to be a partnership, that the private sector needs to be crowded in. And the best way to achieve this is through public-private partnerships where the private sector can contribute the skills and the financial resources where governments can play a very instructive role in creating enabling environment and necessary to ensure that these projects get across the line. All of that, of course, within the framework of appropriate risk sharing again arrangements, which is what makes these public-private sector partnership successful. So there is a need to find sustainable solutions to some of the funding problems that we have. But funding is absolutely key and it is a responsibility that sits on the shoulders of both the public and the private sector and of course, banks are right in the center of it. Daniel, just a quick follow-up question. Is that money available, Daniel? And what kind of support is required from governments to enable the leveraging of that money that is available? As I said, it's an enabling framework. It is policy consistency. It is predictability of the environment and the consistency with which policies are being implemented. And the money is available to be released into projects that are sustainable. And as the President said earlier on, the returns are quite attractive and if I look at at my own institution, we've been involved significantly in funding and financing infrastructure projects in Africa. We funded various sovereign governments directly and lending to them through bonds that they issue. And of course these funds are now often channeled into various infrastructure bills and projects. And there's an opportunity to work with development finance institutions, export credit agencies, and those that need to look at de-risking strategies that are insurers and guarantors that play in the public and private market. So I would say the money is available and it just needs certainty. It needs bankable projects. It needs predictable environments within which it will be deployed to end the requisite returns. Thank you, Daniel. Your Excellency, I'd like to invite you to respond if you'd like to any of the comments that have been made by our other two discussions today. The issue of funding. I think it's a matter that we keep pushing under the carpet, which we need to bring to the very center of discussions about the financial possibilities that they are for funding our development. That is the systematic efforts that are made by powerful companies that come to do business in Africa to facilitate the illegal illicit transport of our resources and wealth outside the continent. The figures that I've been talked about are huge sums of money. And if these monies, if with our partners across the world, we could find a way of sealing this outflow of these resources, we're talking 50 billion United States dollars a year. It's a lot of money. And for economies that what today is is is is valuable. The combined value of the African economy is the combined GDP is what has been situated at 3.5 trillion United States dollars. And we're talking about and this is a conservative estimate of 50 billion dollars a year flowing out of the country through illicit needs. Any assistance that can be given to enable Africa prevent this outflow would automatically transform the conditions of the continent and its ability to organize its own resources and the funds for critical developments. I mean that that is for me a very important aspect. This matter has been spoken about. Nothing is done about it. And the outflow continues. I think we are required now to make a systematic effort through the tax reforms, cooperation with foreign tax authorities, criminal organizations across the world to prevent this outflow. It's a major. The other, of course, is the issue of education and especially the digital development that we require. The education has obviously a catalytic effected impact on our capability of developing. And I think that structuring our economies in a way whereby the emphasis of the monies that we have been spent on education and making education as widely acceptable and accessible as possible is an extremely important transformative step. We're doing that in Ghana. We're now made a senior high school education and a secondary education. Essentially the responsibility of the public exchequer for all students who have the capacity to enter our secondary school system. And we're in the process of doing the same for tertiary education as well because for us there is no more important factor for our future than developing our human capital. So I would say that the two, the two critical matters that we're looking at in Ghana, in which we are constantly going to harp on in the discussions that we have with our colleagues and friends across the world. Absolutely, your excellency. Thanks very much for those thoughts. And by the way, I wanted to say congratulations on your reelection and on the challenge that you have undertaken to serve the Ghanaian people for your second term. And with that, thank you for your excellency. I'd like to thank every one of you who has been watching this broadcast here on CNBC Africa and also of course of the very different social platforms across the world. I'd like to thank his excellency, that's President Nana Doh Danko Aku for Doh of Ghana. Also special thanks to Putma Ngele Diabeva, Chief Executive Officer of NASPAS, and Daniel Ngele, Chief Executive Officer of the AFSA Group for participating in this session.