MAN enjoins continent to leverage AfCFTA
By Felicia Nwosu
To drive home the set objective of ensuring the all-round well-being of its members and to enable Africa’s full integration into the global market, Francis Meshioye, President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, has enjoined the continent to leverage and maximise the various opportunities and benefits inherent in the offering of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AFCFTA.
The President stated this during the “Lighting the African Trade Torch for the Implementation of the AfCFTA ceremony held in Lagos. The event was to reiterate the commitment of participating countries to the implementation of the AfCFTA.
In addition, he urged countries to address the macroeconomic environment, poor competitiveness and dearth of trade facilitating infrastructure prevailing in many African countries.
“As we light the Africa Trade Torch on implementation of AfCFTA today, we must all resolve to keep this monumental light in our minds. We should ensure the upscaling of trade in manufactured goods through improved industrial capacity and deliberately develop industrial inputs to reduce the intensity of reliance on the global supply chain.
Meshioye, who doubles as President, Pan-African Manufacturers Association (PAMA) said the trade body must intentionally bring down all the historical physical borders in Africa, facilitating peaceful co-existence and security of lives and property.
“We must effectively support all Organised Private Sector organisations in Africa and strengthen the private sector directorate in the structure of the AfCFTA secretariat as PAMA continues to monitor unfolding events around AfCFTA with great optimism,” he said.
According to MAN’s President, AfCFTA had created a market of over 1.3 billion people and was the largest single market in the world with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over 2.6 trillion dollars, while adding that it would boost Africa’s export by more than 600 billion dollars with wage gain of more than 10 per cent, presenting a unique opportunity for increased production capacities and trade volume.
“On behalf of PAMA, I congratulate the African Union, the AfCFTA secretariat and the Africa Business Council for the progress we have made since the commencement of the AfCFTA.
“We see the single liberalised market for free trade in goods and services, which AfCFTA offers as a lifetime opportunity for African countries to trade more with each other, refocus national economics, and fast track the process of fully integrating the continent into the global market.
“All these opportunities are for the taking, if the competitiveness of private businesses is enhanced; and I must say, we cannot afford to allow this monumental opportunity to liberate Africa economically, slip from our hands. In reality, the benefits and opportunities that AfCFTA offers are not without challenges and hurdles that will necessitate tough decisions and measures. However, I am confident that with concerted efforts of all stakeholders and overwhelming support of all private sector operators in Africa, these hurdles are surmountable,” he said.
Meshioye noted that his interactions with manufacturers revealed the hope that AfCFTA would transform Africa into a prosperous and competitive trade environment.
He stressed the need to immediately move beyond the completion of negotiations on schedule of tariff offers, finalisation of work on the rules of origin and fully operationalise the Pan African Payment Platform.
Meshioye said that all outstanding issues germane to the effective implementation of AfCFTA must be speedily resolved.
He charged participating countries to continue to support the African Union and the AfCFTA secretariat to evolve strategies that would ensure that trading in the AfCFTA corridor stimulated inclusive development in Africa. According to him, this was achievable through a strategic framework to facilitate inflow of investment and the inclusion of women, youth, innovation and technology development in the AfCFTA implementation roadmap.
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