The 3rd Kusi Ideas Festival, a hybrid event was held two years into the Covid-19 pandemic. No doubt, the damage to economies, education and livelihoods has set back some countries by a generation, but Africa lived to fight another day. The theme of the conference, “How Africa Transforms after the Virus”, took on board the importance that regional markets have proved to be in this crisis. Accra, the headquarters of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), was thereby the perfect venue for the 2021 conference.
Kusi Ideas Festival III sought to explore how the wider continent, and the black diaspora, can fuel the reconstruction of Africa post pandemic, how the increased freedom of movement of goods and people (under AfCFTA), would boost the continent’s economic recovery. It also looked into how renewed industrialization and technological innovation can be part of the building blocks for realizing the projected impact of the trade and boost regional incomes by 7% (US$450 billion), and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035.
The 3rd Kusi Ideas Festival was co-hosted by H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana and attracted participation from H.E. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda and H.E. Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda, both of whom gave virtual addresses. Other key dignitaries in attendance included Rebbecca Grynspan, Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD), Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General, African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat(AfCFTA), Hon. Dr. Peter Mathuki, Secretary General, East African Community, Akwasi Agyeman, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Tourism Authority(GTA) and H.E Anne Waiguru, Governor, County Government of Kirinyaga, among others.
