Utomi elected PAFTRAC chair

Africa’s leading private sector institutions and corporates organisations have established Pan-African Private Sector Trade and Investment Committee (PAFTRAC) to serve as an advocacy platform to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) The institutions elected Prof. Patrick Utomi, founder of the Centre for Value in Leadership, Nigeria, as the first Chairperson […]

Africa’s leading private sector institutions and corporates organisations have established Pan-African Private Sector Trade and Investment Committee (PAFTRAC) to serve as an advocacy platform to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

The institutions elected Prof. Patrick Utomi, founder of the Centre for Value in Leadership, Nigeria, as the first Chairperson of PAFTRAC for a two-year term.

In a communique issued in Addis Ababa at the end of a meeting co-hosted by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Union Commission (AUC), the institutions said PAFTRAC would enhance African private sector participation and galvanise the views of the African private sector, mainstreaming them into trade and investment policy making.

The committee will also serve to enhance African private sector participation in trade and investment policy formulation, including trade negotiations.

PAFTRAC will be driven by a group of leaders comprising chief executives of leading African businesses and financial institutions, representatives of regional African business councils and chambers of commerce. It will also include representatives of African policy and research institutions.

Utomi is a businessman and  a Professor of Political Economy and a management expert. He will be supported by vice-chairpersons drawn from different regions of the continent.

The PAFTRAC secretariat will be hosted by Afreximbank.