Niamey (Niger), Dec. 4, - Dr Vera
Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General, has called for a pause on the
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) negotiation processes with the European
Union until the finalisation of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA)
framework was completed.
She said the ‘strategic pause’
would allow countries already implementing their EPAs to continue honouring
their commitments but help to avoid a situation where divergent provisions in
the different Agreements provide for a fragmented trading arrangements between
the EU and different African regions.
“The CFTA should be the priority
for African countries, in terms of trade,” she said at the official opening of
the fourth Meeting of African Ministers of Trade in Niamey, Niger.
It was organised by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, African Integration and Nigeriens abroad under
the distinguished tutelage of President Issoufou Mahamadu of Niger, a champion
for African Free Trade Zone.
The objective of the meeting is
to conclude the outstanding issues of the Modalities for Tariff Liberalisation
that were adopted at the third Meeting of AU Ministers of Trade in June 2017
and consider the draft texts of the CFTA Agreement, protocols, annexes and
appendixes, expected to come to fruition by the close of 2017.
Dr Songwe, doubling as the
Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), said Africa
could re-approach the EU once the CFTA was established and use the framework as
a coherent pan-African arrangement with the EU that better support the
continent’s integration agenda and intra-African trade.
She said the vehicle for the
African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) through which African trades with
the United States, is likely to evolve into a negotiated reciprocal arrangement
in the coming years, as the new US administration’s approach to trade policy
appear to prefer bilateral engagements, in which it could levy its economic
heft.
“…it is vital we adopt a
harmonised continental approaches on beyond the AGOA agenda to ensure we
address the challenges and opportunities…by standing together, we can better
safeguard our collective interests,” the Under-Secretary-General said.
Dr Songwe said Africa’s trade is
growing rapidly with emerging economies including China, India, Brazil and
Turkey, which accounted for over 24 percent growth in 2016, a departure from
its traditional partners, namely, the EU and the US, which together only
accounted for nine percent in 2000.
She said an ambitious CFTA, is
not only necessary for Africa meeting its economic ascendancy but also to
mitigate the effects of a changing world trade architecture and economic
transformation.
Madam Aisha Abubarkar, Nigeria’s
Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment and Chairperson of the
African Union Ministers of Trade, said operationalising the CFTA would unlock
the achievement of the AU’s agenda 2063, inuring to the socio-economic
development of Africa.
She said, “It is better to focus
on the bigger picture. We cannot fail and we shall not fail.”
Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairman
of the African Union Commission, said his outfit is adopting multi-tasking
approaches to solving the myriads of continental challenges including
unemployment and migration for the 65 percent of Africa’s youthful population,
who are seeking non-existing jobs by traversing the Sahel and the Mediterranean
Sea and perishing in droves.
He said development cannot
flourish in conflicts and wars, and AUC is more determined to resolve conflicts
in the continent, no matter how huge the task is.
President Mahamadou said, “It is
time for Africa to depart from the penchant for colonial legacy trade patterns
of raw materials exportation to semi-processed and finished commodities to feed
Africa and the world.
He called for the integration of
international labour standards, the participation of civil society,
parliamentarians, the private sector and the academia as essentials in the
implementation of the CFTA as the first phase reaches completion.
He said some implementation
issues are expected to be addressed in 2018, which include rules of origin, guidelines
for the implementation of trade remedies and matrix lists of liberalisation of
trade in goods as well as market access for goods and services would be
factored into the draft agreement and agenda.
He said the CFTA would leverage
Africa into “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful entity, driven by its
businesses and citizens and represent a dynamic force in global business,
affecting the world stage.”
CFTA is aimed at creating a
single market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons
and investments, paving the way for accelerating the establishment of the
Continental Customs Union and the African Customs Union with trade area
expected to gross over a billion people and a continental GDP of over
3-trillion dollars.
GNA
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