Unlocking and Repositioning the Future of Africa under the AfCFTA
KEY POINTS
Beyond extreme poverty eradication, it’s about time that the true economic might of Africa is realized through intra-African trade.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The African socio-economic and political construct under the AfCFTA dispensation must be able to provide security for the youth- security of livelihood, security of movement, security of innovation, security of lives, and property.
Developing industries is key as it provides African companies with the capacity to process raw materials and export finished products.
Governments must implement strategies that develop industrialization across a variety of sectors as this will increase the global competitiveness of the continent.
Established in 2018, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), represents perhaps Africa’s biggest opportunity for the next few decades in its battle against the poverty of all forms, energy, and infrastructure included.
Against the backdrop of the tens of millions of Africans that have been plunged into extreme poverty by the onslaught of the covid-19 Pandemic, a strong case must be made for speedy implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
It is projected that under the AfCFTA, extreme poverty will significantly decline across the continent. West Africa for instance would witness the biggest decline in the number of people living in extreme poverty namely a decline of approximately 12 million people, which is more than a third of the total for all of Africa.
But beyond extreme poverty eradication, it’s about time that the true economic might of Africa is realized through intra-African trade.
Compared with Asia and Europe with 59 percent and 68 percent intra-continental trade, only 17 percent of exports from African countries are intra-continental (World Economic Forum), due to age-long tariff and non-tariff barriers, which the AfCFTA is essentially established to eliminate.
The fact that intra-African trade constitutes only about 2 percent of global trade means there are significant gains to be realized if the AfCFTA is properly implemented.
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A continent that controls vast resources and a 1.2 billion-strong consumer market should be an economic no-brainer of success, especially considering its young burgeoning, and vibrant population.
The African socio-economic and political construct under the AfCFTA dispensation must be able to provide security for the youth- security of livelihood, security of movement, security of innovation, security of lives, and property.
AfCFTA must be driven by the raw socioeconomic and might of a young and vibrant population and SMEs, not big government and big multinationals.
Cooperation on Infrastructure
The African Development Bank estimates that Africa’s infrastructure needs amount to $130–$170 billion a year, with a financing gap in the range of $67.6–$107.5 billion.
However, the lack of cooperation on infrastructure has been as deleterious to African development as the lack of funds, which is always the first to be touted.
To make the AfCFTA work, there is a need to connect African economies both regionally and on a continental scale through reliable infrastructure, which is conceptualized, financed, and protected in common.
Duplication and waste in infrastructural development must be jettisoned for optimal development of a regional or continental infrastructural blueprint.
Cooperation on infrastructure must include security infrastructure. What happens North of Mozambique should not be disconnected from solutions deployed South of Nigeria.
We cannot promote trade without protecting production and investment across the continent. Mozambique’s insurgence problem is not just a Mozambican or Southern African issue, it is a threat to the entire c