Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, a former deputy minister of trade and industry, believes that unless enough is done to encourage private sector involvement in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Ghanaian companies would benefit less from the continental agreement.
According to him, no matter how well-founded the AfCFTA goals are, they will remain elusive if the country’s businesses are unable to fully exploit the agreement’s opportunities.
Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay, speaking at the Private Enterprises Federation’s (PEF) first private sector working group meeting, charged PEF and other stakeholders with assisting businesses in identifying the possible effect of the AfCFTA on their businesses and strategically positioning them to fully engage in this enormous continental business opportunity.
“It is important for us to make sure that we provide the framework but at the end of the day, you need a private-sector representation to be the one pushing so that all that is done meets your requirements. We need to move the discussion from these lofty, nice things to the real details. How do I export cocoa butter, for instance?”
“That is the level of discussion we must have at the association level guided by PEF and everybody else. Because Ghanaians are very good at trading, but we don’t have what it takes to have a very good formal trading. That is the path that we need to develop,” he said.
By 2025, the African Continental Free Trade Area, which began on January 1, 2021, is estimated to have doubled Africa’s manufacturing production to $1 trillion and created 14 million jobs.
Source: ATLFMNEWSROOM
