Across all sessions, the centrality of strong, accountable, and capable governance at national, regional, and continental levels was consistently underscored. Progress on domestic resource mobilisation, capital market development, digital transformation, AI, and industrialisation depends on governance systems that can set clear rules, manage risk, coordinate actors, and sustain reform over time. Strengthening tax administration, public financial management, regulatory frameworks, and accountability institutions was therefore framed not as a parallel agenda, but as the foundation of socio-economic transformation.
At the same time, enduring and emerging conflicts were identified as critical governance challenges. Protracted conflicts often entrench parallel governance systems and war economies, undermining state authority, distorting incentives, and weakening the regulation of trade, technology, and development pathways. The growing prominence of non-state actors reflects both state fragility and a direct threat to national cohesion, particularly where extractive or predatory external relationships undermine domestic resource mobilisation and developmental sovereignty. Conflict prevention and resolution were, therefore, recognised as integral components of governance reform.
Discussions also highlighted persistent challenges in governments’ execution capacity. Gaps in project preparation, limited legal and negotiation capacity when engaging external partners, and thin technical expertise across key ministries often constrain the effective design and implementation of large-scale development initiatives. These constraints are further compounded by regulatory fragmentation and coordination challenges across sectors and institutions. Strengthening state capacity in these areas was recognised as essential to improving the mobilisation, negotiation, and management of development finance, and to ensuring that investments translate into tangible and sustainable development outcomes.
Regional institutions also play a critical role in strengthening governance and enabling coordinated responses to shared challenges. Advancing deeper regional integration will require sustained political leadership, alignment of incentives among member states, credible risk-sharing arrangements, and clear accountability mechanisms to ensure implementation. Effective integration ultimately depends on the ability of national governments to translate regional commitments into concrete policy reforms and practical cross-border cooperation.
At present, however, several structural constraints continue to impede the effectiveness of regional institutions. These include the limited financial autonomy of RECs, leadership turnover and continuity gaps, persistent capacity and staffing constraints within REC secretariats, and challenges in enforcing member state compliance with agreed frameworks and protocols. Addressing these constraints will be essential to unlocking the full potential of regional integration and strengthening collective governance capacity across the continent.
Participants emphasised the need to confront these structural constraints through a more execution oriented governance culture, grounded in trust-building and context-responsive approaches. The AU and RECs were encouraged to address bureaucratic inertia, strengthen institutional legitimacy, ensure timely and adequate member state contributions, and enforce compliance with agreed frameworks. Priority was also placed on developing shared continental and regional standards, including for data governance and digital identity, that respect national contexts while enabling interoperability and scale. In parallel, nationally led but regionally supported conflict prevention and resolution frameworks were identified as essential to safeguarding state authority, expanding fiscal space, and enabling African countries to advance their development agendas.