Africa Private Sector Summit - APSS

What Africa Private Sector Summit - APSS does

Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS) is a non-profit, non-partisan Pan-African think and do tank registered in Ghana as Africa Private Sector Summit LBG (Registration Number: CG220120921). Conceptualized in March 2020 and formally incorporated on September 30, 2021, the organization operates from Accra with a small team of 8 employees and convenes stakeholders across five ecosystem groups: the private sector, public sector, academia, labor and civil society organizations, and the African diaspora. Its vision is the successful implementation of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocols, and it pursues this through an Ubuntu philosophy-based ecosystem approach.

APSS's core deliverables are the annual summit series (Series 1 virtual in March 2021, Series 2 in Accra in October 2022, Series 3 in Kigali in 2023) and two flagship outputs: the Charter on Private Sector Bill of Rights (PSBoR), advocated as a companion instrument to AfCFTA protocols, and the Africa Education Trust Fund (AETF) aimed at aligning academia and TVETs with industry needs for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. There is no proprietary technology platform; the organization does not develop or sell technology products and its value is delivered through convening, policy research, and advocacy.

The organization is grant-funded rather than commercially revenue-generating. Its financial support has come from institutional partners including the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA), Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), and the European Union, alongside a network of strategic partners (PACCI, AfBC, AAU, FEWACCI, EACCIA, ICGLR, APN, GISPD, CCA, and the AfCFTA Secretariat). It is governed by a Chairman of the Board (Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, appointed November 2025), Founder and Chair Emeritus Judson Wendell Addy, Co-Founders Ben Acheampong and Prof. Samson Ndoga, and regional Advisory and Executive Boards across Africa's five geographic regions plus the diaspora.

Name

Africa Private Sector Summit - APSS

Legal name

Africa Private Sector Summit LBG

Website

https://africaprivatesectorsummit.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

APSS is a non-profit Pan-African think tank based in Accra, Ghana that convenes private sector, public sector, academia, labor, and civil society stakeholders to advance implementation of the AfCFTA and REC protocols through annual summits, the Charter on Private Sector Bill of Rights, and the Africa Education Trust Fund.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Accra

HQ country

Ghana

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and Financial Support: APSS receives financial support from institutional partners including United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA), and Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) to fund summit operations and policy development initiatives.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

APSS is a Pan-African convening and advocacy organization that hosts annual summits to advocate for the successful implementation of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocols. It facilitates multi-stakeholder engagement across private sector, public sector, academia, labour, and civil society to promote an enabling business environment through the Charter on Private Sector Bill of Rights (PSBoR) and the Africa Education Trust Fund (AETF).

Product overview

Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS) is a Pan-African Private Sector Think and Do Tank organization operating as a facilitating body that convenes stakeholders across five key groups: Private Sector (engine of growth), Public Sector (enabling environment), Academia (curricula linkage and research), Labour & CSO (monitoring implementation). APSS organizes Summit Series (Series 1, 2, 3) as its pivotal mechanism of engagement, producing Action Plans, Programs, Projects, and Initiatives. Key products include the Charter on Private Sector Bill of Rights (PSBoR) for advocacy, the Africa Education Trust Fund (AETF) for educational transformation, and initiatives on Single Currency and Digitalization/Technology/IP. The organization operates an Ecosystem-based approach grounded in the African philosophy of UBUNTU.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Charter on Private Sector Bill of Rights (PSBoR) A policy instrument emerging from progressive continental engagements that advocates for an enabling business environment in Africa and serves as a companion instrument to RECs and AfCFTA protocols. Designed for African governments, private sector bodies, and AU institutions.
• Africa Education Trust Fund (AETF) A trust fund initiative established to transform Africa's educational system for applicable skills by linking academia and TVET institutions with industry needs for the 4th Industrial Revolution in Africa. Targeted at African universities, TVET institutions, and the broader academic ecosystem.
• APSS Summit Series Annual convening events bringing together African heads of state, business leaders, entrepreneurs, academia, labour, and civil society organizations to drive advocacy and action on AfCFTA and REC implementation. Designed for continental stakeholders across private and public sectors.
• Single Currency Initiative A policy initiative advocating for a common African currency to facilitate intra-African trade and economic integration. Targeted at African Union Member States and continental monetary policy bodies.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% of participants in APSS Ecosystem's Pilot Study endorsed willingness to endorse the Private Sector Bill of Rights (PSBoR)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, regional and minor.

• AfCFTA SecretariatcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023AfCFTA Secretariat is working with APSS and AfBC on the adoption of the Charter on PSBoR at the AU Heads of States Summit, positioning the PSBoR as an accompanying instrument to AfCFTA protocols.
• Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021PACCI is a key strategic partner for APSS. An MOU was signed between Association of African Universities (AAU) and PACCI for industry academia partnerships. PACCI co-leads the regional and continental vetting of the Charter on PSBoR.
• African Business Council (AfBC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021AfBC is a key partner leading the adoption of the PSBoR Charter at the AU Heads of States Summit. The organization represents Africa's private sector at continental level.
• Association of African Universities (AAU)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021AAU signed MOU with PACCI for industry academia partnerships across Africa as an outcome of Series 1 summit, supporting APSS's educational linkage objectives.
• Federation of West Africa Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI)regionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021FEWACCI partnered with APSS as a continental body supporting AfCFTA and AU Agenda 2063, representing West African chambers of commerce.
• East Africa Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Agriculture (EACCIA)regionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021EACCIA partnered with APSS as a continental body supporting East African private sector representation in economic integration efforts.
• International Chamber of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR)regionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021ICGLR partnered with APSS supporting private sector development in the Great Lakes Region through the summit series.
• AfCFTA Policy Network (APN)regionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021APN partnered with APSS as a policy network supporting AfCFTA implementation across the continent.
• Global Institute for Strategic Planning and Development (GISPD)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021GISPD partnered with APSS contributing to strategic planning and development aspects of continental economic integration.
• Corporate Council of Africa (CCA)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021CCA partnered with APSS supporting continental private sector engagement and economic integration efforts.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights10 records

Emerging players

• Tony Elumelu Foundation: Pan-African entrepreneurship empowerment platform with convening, advocacy, and program-management components. Overlaps with APSS's MSME/youth-women inclusion segment and advocacy-for-enabling-environment mission.

Direct peers

• Africa CEO Forum: High-profile annual convening platform bringing African heads of state and business leaders together. Directly comparable in summit-format GTM and continental stakeholder convening model to APSS's Series events.
• African Economic Research Consortium (AERC): Pan-African economic policy think tank producing research and convening capacity across the continent on trade, regional integration, and macro policy. Direct functional peer to APSS in mission scope and stakeholder model.
• AfroChampions Initiative: Continental advocacy initiative promoting African private sector champions and intra-African capital flows. Closely comparable in mission to position African business as engine of continental integration, overlapping with APSS's PSBoR framing.
• Trade Law Centre (tralac): Africa-focused trade policy think tank providing research, capacity building, and convening on AfCFTA implementation. Direct functional peer on the trade-policy advocacy mandate APSS pursues through PSBoR.
• ONE Africa: Continental advocacy organization mobilizing African civil society and private sector voices toward policy outcomes. Directly comparable multi-stakeholder advocacy model targeting continental policy adoption.

Broad incumbents

• Mo Ibrahim Foundation: Established African governance and economic development foundation operating a broader advocacy and convening remit. Comparable as a continental, multi-stakeholder advocacy body but with a governance rather than purely trade-integration focus.
• World Economic Forum Africa: Global convening platform with a strong Africa regional track convening heads of state and major corporates. Comparable convening model at a broader institutional scale than APSS's annual summits.
• Brookings Africa Growth Initiative: Policy-research program producing evidence and convening recommendations on African growth and integration. Comparable in producing evidence-based policy advocacy, though at a larger institutional scale and research-led rather than convening-led.

Others

• African Development Bank — AfCFTA Secretariat partners: Continental trade-policy implementation bodies that APSS interfaces with as a partner rather than peer. Included as the most relevant ecosystem counterpart against which APSS positions its enabling-environment advocacy and convening outputs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BizWrongs
• Facebookfacebook.com/africaPrivateSectorSummit
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/officialapss

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Africa Private Sector Summit - APSS