Benefiting from AfCFTA comes with a lot of work – GNCC CEO

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Mark Badu Aboagye, has said that while the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a great initiative, Africans will not benefit from it if certain measures are not put in place.

He shared that the initiative is to ensure that we make and keep wealth in Africa rather than make wealth for European countries.

He observed that these European countries make a profit from trading with Africa because they add value to the raw materials they obtain from Africa and resell them to us.

Speaking at the Happy Development Dialogues hosted by Happy 98.9FM, Mark Badu Aboagye, charged African countries to add value to the raw materials produced in order to benefit from the Africa Free Trade Continental Agreement (AfCFTA).

“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 Prah.

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.

"For example, the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in partnership with other organizations has created a platform such that people can put their products on the platform to get customers,” he added.

African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a flagship project of Agenda 2063 of the African Union. It was approved by the 18th ordinary Session of Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2012 which adopted the decision to establish a Continental Free Trade Area.

This initiative whose immediate implementation would provide quick wins, impact on socio-economic development and enhance confidence and the commitment of Africans as the owners and drivers of Agenda 2063.

The AfCFTA aims at accelerating intra-African trade and boosting Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations.