The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), on Wednesday, reaffirmed its commitment to deepening collaboration with the All Africa Intellectual Property (IP) Summit to drive industrialisation, innovation and economic transformation across the continent.

The AfCFTA also expressed confidence that, under the leadership of African Heads of State and Government and ministers, the continent would continue to make significant progress in implementing the world’s largest free trade area.

The Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja during a courtesy visit by the organisers of the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit to the AfCFTA Secretariat.

Mene was also presented with an award in recognition of his outstanding leadership and contributions to Africa’s trade and continental integration agenda.

Mene disclosed that intra-African trade reached $220 billion in 2024, while more than 10,000 certificates of origin have already been issued under the AfCFTA Agreement.

He said, “Our partnership with the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit is a deep partnership. We shall collaborate. Now that the Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights and its annexes have been adopted, it is not just a legal instrument.

“The Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights presents an opportunity for us as a continent to leverage intellectual property to advance industrial development. It is also an opportunity to advance our ambition of improving public health through important intellectual property tools, including patents, trademarks and other mechanisms that support industrial development in Africa.

“For example, in the area of local pharmaceutical production, the Protocol will enable us to move much faster in fostering industrial development and ultimately reduce our over-reliance on imported pharmaceutical products by producing them here on the continent.

“We look forward to strengthening this partnership and deepening our collaboration. I once again thank you for this recognition. Implementation is ongoing. We have concluded all the protocols and have now transitioned fully to implementation.”

Mene said the AfCFTA Agreement has entered a new phase following the completion of all its protocols.

He added, “We have now transitioned to implementation. Progress is being made, but we must accelerate implementation. We also need to strengthen collaboration with the private sector because it is the private sector that will ensure we realise the full benefits of this agreement.”

In his remarks, Chairman of the 2026 Organising Committee of the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit, Sand Mba-Kalu, said the summit remains committed to transforming Africa’s intellectual property ecosystem by ensuring Africans own, protect and commercialise their innovations.

He said: “Our vision is to change the IP narrative in Africa and ensure that intellectual property works for Africans. We strongly believe that AfCFTA provides the platform for Africa to trade more within itself.”

Mba-Kalu stressed that increased intra-African trade would only be sustainable if African innovators and businesses were able to protect the products and ideas they create.

He added, “We cannot trade more among ourselves if we do not own what we trade. That is why, over the past seven years, the All Africa IP Summit has brought together creators, practitioners and policymakers from across the continent to discuss how Africa can trade and own what it produces.”

He added that the seventh edition of the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, where organisers will collaborate with the AfCFTA Secretariat to mainstream the implementation of the Intellectual Property Rights Protocol under the AfCFTA Agreement.

According to him, the theme of this year’s summit is “Mainstreaming Intellectual Property for African Trade, Industrialisation and Creative Economic Transformation”, underscoring the organisers’ commitment to making intellectual property a key driver of Africa’s trade, industrial growth and creative economy.