The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Mark Badu-Aboagye, has advised African traders to pay more attention to refining their raw materials in order to be recognized on the global trade market.
According to him, the trade sector in Africa is down on the global trade market with Africa’s being 3%.
“When you look at the trade sector, you will realize the countries adding value to their raw materials benefit massively from it.”
“Africans are not doing well when it comes to trade because we always prefer exporting raw materials to foreign countries. When you look at the trade sector, you will realize the countries adding value to the raw materials benefit massively from it,” he told Don Kwabena Prah on the Happy Development Dialogues on the topic; ‘‘Understanding the relevance of AfCFTA for Ghana and Industry Players’
However, the sustainable and unhindered access to raw materials is one of the pillars of the European Union strategy for raw materials.
The EU adopted an integrated strategy to ensure sufficient market access to raw materials at fair and undistorted prices and on non-discriminatory terms, better known as the The Raw Materials Initiative.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement will create the largest free trade area in the world measured by the number of countries participating. The pact connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion.
It has the potential to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty, but achieving its full potential will depend on putting in place significant policy reforms and trade facilitation measures.
The scope of AfCFTA is large. The agreement will reduce tariffs among member countries and cover policy areas such as trade facilitation and services, as well as regulatory measures such as sanitary standards and technical barriers to trade. Full implementation of AfCFTA would reshape markets and economies across the region and boost output in the services, manufacturing and natural resources sectors.
By: Naa Yarteley Yartey
