Addressing the opening of a
three-day National Conference on the Implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement in
Accra, on Monday, President Akufo-Addo said the coming into force and the
successful implementation of the AfCFTA “ties in perfectly with the vision of
moving our country to a situation beyond aid and a self-reliance.”
Last month, Ghana was chosen by
the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) to host
the Secretariat of the AfCFTA. And the core mandate of the Secretariat will be
to implement the AfCFTA Agreement of which 54 of the 55 African nations have
signed onto, and has since been ratified by 25 AU member states.
The AfCFTA agreement makes Africa
the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade
Organisation. The agreement will cover a market of 1.2 billion people, with a
combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.5 trillion, across the fifty-four
(54) Member States of the African Union that have signed up to the Agreement.
The Accra conference has brought
together key stakeholders to discuss strategies and programme interventions
required to harness the benefits of the AfCFTA.
President Akufo-Addo told the gathering
that the vision was to move Ghana to a situation beyond aid, dependence,
charity and handouts, and that, his government’s determination to make
intelligent and disciplined use of the nation’s vast resources, could be belter
realized when the inherent benefits and opportunities in the AfCFTA Agreement
was harnessed holistically.
He said his government, over the
past two and half years, had prioritized the management of the macro-economic
stability of the Ghanaian economy to facilitate growth, with the key economic
indicators that were in disarray when it assumed the reigns of governance, now
pointing in the right direction.
“We’ve restored fiscal discipline
and managed the economy in a manner that guarantees pragmatism in mobilizing
and deploying our national resources. We have efficiently managed the economy
to continuously create a business-friendly atmosphere, essential to driving
investments, stimulating growth and creating employment.”
Secondly, government, the
President said, was committed to changing the structure of the Ghanaian economy
by addressing productivity capacity issues, taking the country away from the
reliance on the export of raw materials to that of adding value to the
country’s natural resources and aggressively promoting industrialization.
“That is why, initiatives such as
the ‘One District, One Factory’ flagship policy, strategic anchor industries,
the integrated bauxite and aluminum industry, the iron and steel industry, and
the vehicle assembly plants, the establishment of industrial parks, and the
programme for agricultural renewal- Planting for Food and Jobs- as well as the deliberate steps being taken
to educate Ghanaian children, are being pursued vigorously to transform and
change the country, to enable it to derive maximum benefits from the AfCFTA
Agreement.”
Noting the need to put the
requisite infrastructure to derive further, benefits from the AfCFTA pact, President
Akufo-Addo said Government was investing in trade related infrastructure in
order to facilitate trade, citing the ongoing expansion of the Ports of Tema
and Takoradi, as well as the expansion and rehabilitation of numerous roads and
railways as “testaments of governments resolve to leverage new market
opportunities on the continent.”
With Africa estimated to have the
largest youth population in the world by 2050, he said, the overarching
measures to harness the benefits of the AfCFTA are to “develop and expand our
economy and create sustainable jobs for our youth”, adding that, countries
would have to find sustainable ways of creating jobs rather than relying on the
limited public sector employment.
President Akufo-Addo urged the
private sector to take advantage of the agreements under the AfTCFTA to expand
production, both in industry and agriculture, and take the lead in the
socio-economic transformation of the country.
He pledged that government will
assist the process by fashioning and implementing a comprehensive set of
policies that will empower the private sector to achieve its goals, saying,
“our whole objective is to unleash the innovative and entrepreneurial talents
of the Ghanaian private sector to drive rapid growth and job creation.”
Mr Alan Kyerematen, Minister of
Trade and Industry, said the AfCFTA was a major step towards the realisation of
the dream for a single market that will propel the economic emancipation of the
continent.
He was optimistic that the AfCFTA
Agreement would propel intra- African trade and expedite the rapid development
of the continent, but cautioned that the benefits of the single African market
would not materialize automatically, as it would require conscious
interventions to allow each country reap the full profits.
GNA
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