Happy98.9FM, the radio brand with Ghana’s developmental agenda at heart has held its latest Happy Development Dialogues discussion with stakeholders in the trade industry, focusing on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The dialogue saw the brand engage various stakeholders from the field of academia, business and policy influencers on the topic, ‘Understanding the relevance of AfCFTA for Ghana and Industry Players’.
Participants in this enlightening and enriching dialogue were, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GNCCI), Mark Badu-Aboagye, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference (GiTFIC), Selasi Koffi Ackom, Greater Accra Regional Chair of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Tsonam Cleanse Akpeloo, President of Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr. Joseph Obeng and Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Professor Lord Mensah.
CEO of Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference (GiTFIC), Selasi Koffi Ackom claims the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is one of the biggest trade across the world. He believes the agreement reached to form AfCFTA was rapid making it one of the greatest agreements the world has seen.
“As we speak today, 36 African countries of a total of 54 African countries have deposited their instruments of ratification signed, making it the swiftest and one of the biggest agreements the world has ever witnessed,” he said.
Stakeholders reacting to the potential of AfCFTA to benefit Ghana believe the country has a lot of work to do for this to be realized. CEO of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Mark Badu Aboagye, believes the prioritizing of added value to raw materials is the way for the country and the continent now.
“What we trade in Europe is raw materials and they sell it to us at a higher price after adding value to the raw material. AFCFTA is to make sure that we trade among ourselves and benefit from that. So, we need to add value to the raw materials we have so that it will stand out among African countries,” he told Don Kwabena Prah, moderator of the dialogues.
He added that, besides adding value to our products, the various industries must create demand for the market that AfCFTA creates. “AfCFTA creates the market but it doesn’t create the demand so we have to help to create demand.
The businessman charged the government to look at creating the local market first for local industries, and then proceed to create the international market for them if Ghana wants to enjoy the benefits of (AfCFTA), whilst strengthening the local industries by giving them the needed support.
The Greater Accra Regional Chair of the AGI, Tsonam Cleanse Akpeloo also indicated that the AfCFTA agreement only creates winners and losers, with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) being the latter because they are not ready to export. He believes the consolidation of the SMEs in the same production line can increase their capacity to produce on a large scale and meet export demands.
Stakeholders also charged the government to revise policies on power and lending to reduce the cost of doing business for SMEs to benefit from AfCFTA and boost the nation’s economy. With almost 30 percent of production cost going to power and zero subsidies on industrial power, they charged the government to introduce favourable policies and introduce tax incentives for these SMEs.
President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr. Joseph Obeng shared that education is key if AfCFTA is to function effectively and prevent conflict between member states. According to him, the initiative must never be confused with freely relocating to another African country for trade. He reasoned that if that were to happen under the initiative, some people will try to escape their badly managed economy to burden other economies.
“Free movement of goods under the AfCFTA does not mean relocating without the basis of trading. If that were the case, some citizens whose country’s economy is in bad shape will take advantage of the situation and relocate to other African countries. Then, these African countries cannot contain the migrants. So, they need to understand that AFCTFA does not mean that you are relocating. The rules should be explained so that citizens understand them,” he said.
Professor Lord Mensah, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), was however sceptical of the benefits of AfCFTA.
To him, negotiations with other African countries are going to be a problem because the continent’s governments have their budgets and know-how to operate their fiscal space to meet their target income for the year but “AfCFTA messing this up will be something they will not easily accept. Government officials in Ghana make a lot of revenue for the country from tariffs inflow and import duties. How then does a government say they would sacrifice their tariffs and import duties by accepting goods into the country as a result of this free trade area?”
Director of Broadcasting at GMABC, Timothy Karikari, speaking on this latest dialogue, shared: “Happy FM is proud to have brought together relevant stakeholders who have created an understanding about AfCFTA to the layman. It is our hope that the education provided on our platform will inform our audience and they, in turn, will take advantage of the AfCFTA.”
Timothy Karikari called on Ghanaians to anticipate the next discussion under the Development Dialogues series and keep their dials tuned to Happy98.9FM.
