H.E. Wamkele Mene is the first Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. Headquartered in Accra, the Secretariat oversees implementation of an agreement covering a market of about 1.4 billion people. Its work shapes how energy, minerals and manufactured goods move across Africa, and the Secretariat has stated that efficient energy systems and strategic infrastructure are essential to realising the agreement’s potential.

Before his election, Mene was Chief Director for Africa Economic Relations at South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry, where he was the country’s chief negotiator for the AfCFTA and the Tripartite Free Trade Area. He had earlier been the department’s Director for International Trade Law and Investment Law. From 2010 to 2015 he represented South Africa at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, where he chaired the WTO committee on trade in financial services. Before joining the department, he worked for international law firms in London and Hong Kong.

The 33rd Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly elected Mene to the post in February 2020, and he was sworn in at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa on 19 March 2020. In February 2024 the Assembly reappointed him for a second four-year term. His first term saw the launch of the Guided Trade Initiative and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System. He holds a BA (Law) from Rhodes University, an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from SOAS, University of London, and an LLM in Banking Law and Financial Regulation from the London School of Economics.

Mene’s current focus is turning market integration into industrial capacity. In 2026 he has urged a shift from exporting raw minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium and bauxite towards processing, refining and manufacturing on the continent, arguing that the AfCFTA provides the scale to make this viable. He has also called for investment in industrial development, trade corridors and small business finance, warning that without financing the agreement risks sitting on the shelf.