President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged African countries to trade among themselves.
He indicated that Africa is endowed with natural resources and other commodities that can transform the entire continent.
Transforming the continent, he said, would require countries trade to among themselves.
President Akufo-Addo said these in his acceptance speech when the Africa Bar Association conferred on him on Monday August 7 the Medal of Merit in Leadership Award, at its ongoing 2023 Annual Conference in Pretoria, South Africa.
“We must be defined by what we see in ourselves, and not what others choose to say about us. However, this cannot happen if we do not trade amongst ourselves.
Africa accounts for only three percent (3%) of global trade, and intra-African trade is one of the lowest of any region globally,” he said.
He added that this is largely due to the “colonial” economic model characterised by small individual economies, fragmented and disconnected regional markets, over-reliance on the production and export of primary commodities, and the presence of low productive capacities, which he said had been in existence for the last century.
“The emergence of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), in which trading began on 1st January 2021, and whose Secretariat Ghana is privileged to host, represents a historic opportunity for Africa to strengthen, immeasurably, intra-African trade as a powerful avenue for developing Africa’s vast economic and material potential,” Mr Akufo-Addo said.
