African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat secretary-general Wamkele Mene will participate in international organisation Project Management Institute's (PMI's) Global Summit Series Cape Town, which will be held on September 14 and 15.

Mene's participation resonates with the aim of the conference. AfCFTA aims to create a more integrated continental market that has the potential to fundamentally reshape how African economies trade with one another, PMI says.

Africa’s integration will depend on how well it connects its markets, moves goods and people, powers its economies and how easy it is to do business across borders.

“Africa is not short of ambition, as the African Union’s (AU's) Agenda 2063 flagship projects and bold development visions of countries across the continent show. What matters now is delivery.

“The PMI conference convenes people from government and development banks, as well as technology, energy and infrastructure sectors and who have experience in delivering complex projects and transformation. They will share what they have learned, what works, what doesn’t and what they would do differently,” says PMI sub-Saharan Africa MD George Asamani.

The ability to deliver and have the right institutions, skills and project capability to turn continental ambition into real progress is needed, which sits at the heart of the Cape Town Summit, he adds.

“Project management is about closing the distance between what we say we want to achieve and what people actually experience. Having the right strategy and investment is important, but delivery is what turns those plans into progress. This requires people with the skills and capability to make things happen.

“We want project professionals to leave Cape Town with practical approaches, methodologies and insights they can take back to their organisations and apply to the projects they are delivering. Learning from one another and strengthening our collective abilities will turn Africa’s ambitions into results.”

Other participants include digital technology company Cassava Technologies Botswana and South Africa CEO Ziaad Suleman, State-owned utility Eskom chairperson Mteto Nyathi, fintech Flutterwave founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola and infrastructure engineering firm Zutari projects head Willem Botha.

Additionally, project management training company PM.Ideas founder Karin van Rooyen and civil society organisation Women For Change founder Sabrina Walter will also participate, as will AU Commission Peace Fund Secretariat director Dagmawit Moges Bekele.

Development finance institution the African Development Bank Development Impact and Results director Armand Nzeyimana, Ghanaian former Education and Energy Minister Dr Matthew Prempeh and South African Presidency Project Management Office (PMO) head Rudi Dicks will share their insights during the conference.

Further, City of Cape Town Project Management Office director Ben Peters, Kenya Government Delivery Unit acting head Sitati Olando, South African Revenue Service Enterprise PMO head William Mpye and Uganda Revenue Authority PMO head Stella Maris Nambaziira will take part in the conference.

Across the continent, governments are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that policies, budgets and development plans translate into tangible improvements in people's lives. Delivery units and PMOs are increasingly becoming part of the institutional architecture through which governments coordinate priorities, monitor implementation and improve accountability for results, Asamani says.

The summit's programme emphasises execution and brings together project professionals, industry leaders and government officials to share ideas, experience and practical approaches to delivering projects with greater impact.