INVITATION

The Africa BRICS and Global South (ABGS) Research Unit at the Human
Sciences Research Council invites you to an engaging seminar on 25 June
2025 at the VCR, HSRC Building with Dr Geoffrey Banda, a Senior Lecturer at
the University of Edinburgh. The seminar will focus on how the African
Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) can be a powerful catalyst for
strengthening Africa’s local health security through increased and resilient
regional trade, industrialisation, and innovation. This seminar will explore how
aligning health and industrial policy within the framework of the AfCFTA can
drive job creation, enhance resilience, and support the continent’s broader
development ambitions under Agenda 2063.

Grounded in the themes of his recent book, “Cancer Care in Pandemic Times:
Building Inclusive Local Health Security in Africa and India,” Dr Banda presents
a compelling case for an interdisciplinary approach that bridges health,
industrialisation, and regional economic integration research to create
sustainable, context-specific solutions to Africa’s health challenges.

Key themes to be explored include:

• Vulnerabilities of depending on global supply chains.
• Purposively linking health (health policy) and industrial capabilities.
• Technological transition and industrial capabilities.
• Leveraging the AfCFTA to build scale for innovative procurement that
  supports the gradual building of continental innovation ecosystems that
  support resilient regional trading systems.
  
  Join us in this critical conversation on how Africa can forge a future of shared
  prosperity, regional trade, and resilient systems, aligned with the visionary
  goals of Agenda 2063.
  
  
• Wednesday, 25 June 2025
• 09:45 to 12:15
• Venue: AISA boardroom (11^th floor)
• Registration link https://zoom.us/j/99381577633?pwd=Kv9a0wDSMOBnO33q3JhojgiRLLpbwU.1
• For more information, please contact Vuyo Mjimba at vmjimba@hsrc.ac.za