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Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS), a private non-profit organisation promoting trade and investment in Africa, has announced the appointment of Lucy Surhyel Newman as its new CEO.

Dr. Newman, a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT), international consultant, policy advisor, and author, was the CEO of FITC from 2009 to 2019. She has many years of experience in the Nigerian financial services sector, working in a couple of banks including Fidelity Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA). Her consulting experience include her career in the Business Advisory Practice of PwC, FITC, and independent practice after her tenure at FITC.

As CEO, Dr. Newman will lead and coordinate activities in the private sector and stakeholders for the vetting and validation of the proposed Charter on Private Sector Development, Rights and Protection in Africa a.k.a. Private Sector Bill of Rights (PSBoR) for an enabling business environment in Africa. Newman is also expected to play an active role in a second project associated with APSS, the Africa Education Trust m Fund (AETF), which is headed by Ekwow Spio-Garbrah. The fund is being designed and developed to revamp Africa's education system to meet the skill sets for business and industry and the public sector. APSS said the goal is for Africa to provide skill sets needed to exploit its soils and water ways for minerals and produce food for economic independence and development transformation.

The new CEO will be working with national, regional, continental, and international bodies in support of her work at APSS.

In a statement sent to Financial Nigeria, the Board of APSS said it was happy to announce the appointment of Newman. The statement, which also announced the appointment of Professor Sam Ndoga as Executive Director, said the “think (do)” tank is restructuring its leadership. The APSS’ new corporate structure will see its Founder and Chairperson of the Board, Judson Wendell Addy, transition to become a member of the Advisory Board when the two Boards of the organisation (Advisory Board and Executive Board) have been filled up.

APSS also announced its invitation of nominations of candidates into its 13-member Advisory Board and 17-member Executive Board. It called on the African business community, professional associations, stakeholders, and the general public to nominate two candidates each from – and for – what it calls Africa’s 5 + 1 geographic regional blocks: North Africa, South Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, and African Diaspora regions. The successful nominees will serve as non-executive directors and on the executive Board of APSS. The statement added that a special attention will be paid to the inclusion of a candidate from a Lusophone country.

APSS convenes the private sector, public sector, CSO, labour associations, and academia from Africa and the Diaspora to advocate for favourable governance, legal, regulatory, policy, commercial, trade, and investment environment. This is with the aim of promoting business, investment, and trade in Africa.

The Pan-African private non-partisan, non-profit organisation said its work seeks to facilitate the continent’s Regional Economic Communities’ (RECs) protocols and especially leverage the prospects of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which created the African continent-wide market of 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion, to deliver “the Africa we want”. APSS said it is working within a partnership framework involving the Pan African Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PACCI), Africa Business Council (ABC), and trade, business and manufacturers’ associations, etc.