On 23 July 2025, a high-level strategic meeting was held in Casablanca organized by the African Development Bank (BAD) and Casablanca Finance City (CFCA).

The strategic meeting brought together leaders of the African private sector as well as representatives of regional and pan-African institutions including the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), Afreximbank, Afreximbank, the African Union Development Agency (NEPAD), the African Union Development Agency (NEPAD), the West African Development Bank (BOAD), the Africa Commission of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), OCP Group, OCP Group, Attijariwafa Bank, Africa 50, Tanger Med Zone, Orange, Africa Property Network as well as experts from the Boston Consulting Group, was held around the theme “connecting Africa — the ZLECAF path”. The thematic sessions made it possible to make a diagnosis on the progress of the AfCFTA

Participants emphasized the need to strengthen the competitiveness of the private sector, finance trade-enabling infrastructure, and operationalize regional value chains. They also emphasized the need to strengthen regional integration by adopting a pragmatic approach that focuses on the movement of goods and people, goods and ideas, as well as on the release of investment and trade opportunities

According to Lamia Merzouki, Deputy Director General of Casablanca Finance City Authority, emphasized that “the successful implementation of the AfCFTA necessarily requires the effective mobilization of the private sector. This is the challenge of the discussion we are launching today with the African Development Bank style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style”, serif"> to think about concrete tools to stimulate intra-African exchanges, identify relevant investment opportunities and facilitate the integration of African businesses into continental value chains.”