The council, management and organising committee of the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit has honoured the secretary-general of the African Continental Free Trade Area’s secretariat, Wamkele Mene, with the Intellectual Property Leadership and Continental Integration Award.

Presenting the award on Tuesday in Abuja, the founder of the International Trade and Research Centre, Sand Mba-Kalu, said the honour was in recognition of Mr Mene’s exceptional leadership and contributions to Africa’s trade, industrialisation and economic integration.

Mr Mba-Kalu said the award also recognised Mr Mene’s distinguished public service and his role in advancing the continent’s economic transformation agenda.

He described Mr Mene’s election by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union as secretary-general of the AfCFTA secretariat as a defining moment in Africa’s integration journey.

According to him, Mr Mene assumed office at a critical period when the continent required visionary, disciplined and institution-building leadership to drive one of Africa’s most ambitious economic initiatives.

He said that under Mr Mene’s leadership, the AfCFTA had continued to move from aspiration to implementation, translating political commitments into practical economic opportunities and creating an operational framework capable of transforming Africa’s trade landscape.

“Your stewardship has helped give renewed confidence to African businesses, innovators, creators, investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers that Africa can trade more with itself, produce more for itself, and create prosperity from within,” he said.

Mr Mba-Kalu said Mene’s career had been marked by professionalism and technical competence.

He recalled that before assuming office as AfCFTA secretary-general, Mr Mene served as chief director for Africa Economic Relations in South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry, where he played a key role in advancing Africa’s trade negotiations.

He added that, as South Africa’s chief trade negotiator in the AfCFTA and Tripartite Free Trade Area negotiations, Mr Mene contributed greatly to processes that laid the foundation for deeper integration of continental and regional markets.

Mr Mba-Kalu expressed confidence that the AfCFTA would strengthen intra-African trade, adding that Africa must own the products and innovations it trades to maximise the agreement’s benefits.

According to him, this is why the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit has, over the past seven years, continued to bring stakeholders together to promote intellectual property development across the continent.

Responding, Mr Mene thanked the organisers for the honour, describing public service as both a privilege and a responsibility.

“I am privileged to be in this position of serving Africans across the length and breadth of our continent. There is not a single day that goes by that I do not recognise both the duty and the privilege of serving our people,” he said.

Mr Mene said his commitment to Africa’s integration had been shaped over the past 25 years by the vision of the continent’s founding leaders and the milestones achieved through institutions such as the former Organisation of African Unity and the Abuja Treaty.

He said he was proud to contribute to Africa’s integration agenda by building on the foundations laid by the continent’s founding fathers and mothers.

Mr Mene also reaffirmed the AfCFTA secretariat’s partnership with the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit. He noted that following the adoption of the AfCFTA Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights and its annexes, the agreement would serve as more than a legal instrument.

According to him, the protocol provides an opportunity for African countries to leverage intellectual property to drive industrial development and economic growth across the continent.

(NAN)