Govt, AGI, GCCI urge to raise US$5b for AfCFTA

By
Kobla Agbenyegah
The
Alliance for Development and Industrialization, (ADI), one of the leading think
tank groups in the country is urging the Akufo Addo led administration,
together with Association of Ghanaian Industries, the Ghana Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, Ghana Export Promotion Authority to swiftly raise US$5 billion in
the next 5 years to support industries to unable them take advantage of the
Africa Continental Free Trade Area.
This
lifeline support to these industries would help them to expand, grow, and give
job opportunities to the youths which would make the government rake in more
taxes to support its developmental agenda.
It
is also imperative for government and the private sector to catapult the drive
of this continental free trade. Associations such as the Association of
Ghanaian Industries, the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Ghana Export
Promotion Authority could also take advantage of this and use it as a launch
pad for their members.
The
government must support and promote these institutional make ups, as a matter
of urgency, so they can explore the opportunities to enable them to make an
entry into these countries.
The
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimates that the agreement will
boost intra-African trade by 52 percent by 2022.
According
to the ADI, “the government should be able to raise the US$5 billion to take
advantage of this opportunity which would put a stop to the way the government
siphons the economy and still demand output. If we fail to take advantage of
this opportunity then there is the likelihood that the economic growth of this
country would be stagnant. We must take advantage of this opportunity to redeem
our credibility integrity, capability in terms of industrialization”, said
Francis Mensah, Convener of ADI.
“The
government’s support to these industries should be scetorial base, such that
the agriculture sector be focused through the Ministry of Agriculture, also the
textile and tourism sectors should handled by the Ministry of Trade and
Ministry of Tourism respectively. Indeed, we need to think over these entire
sectors so they can grow”, he said.
“We
thank the government especially the Trade Minister for his role in pushing such
an agenda but this throws a big challenge and the demand that industrial sector
becomes strong” the statement said.
The
main objectives of the ACFTA are to create a single continental market for
goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments, and
thus pave the way for accelerating the establishment of the Customs Union.
It
will also expand intra-African trade through better harmonization and
coordination of trade liberalization and facilitation and instruments across
the RECs and across Africa in general. The ACFTA is also expected to enhance
competitiveness at the industry and enterprise level through exploitation of
opportunities for scale production, continental market access and better
reallocation of resources.
The
establishment of the CFTA and the implementation of the Action Plan on Boosting
Intra-African Trade (BIAT) provide a comprehensive framework to pursue a
developmental regionalism strategy.
The
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area, outlined in
the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union
nations. The free-trade area is the largest in the world in terms of
participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organization.
The
agreement was brokered by the African Union (AU) and was signed on by 44 of its
55 member states in Kigali, Rwanda on March 21, 2018.The agreement initially
requires members to remove tariffs from 90% of goods, allowing free access to
commodities, goods, and services across the continent.
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