Chairperson of the Global BRICS Business Council (2023), Busi Mabuza, has said for Africa to unlock its potential, it has to create a regional value chain and reposition itself to attract investors.
She also advised that Africa desist from the attitude of exporting raw materials and importing finished products.
Speaking on GhanaWeb TV's BizTech programme hosted by Ernestina Serwaa Asante, Busi Mabuza called on both individuals and businesses to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
She said, "The fact that many nations even outside of the BRICS nations have such a keen interest on the African continent is precisely because of the endowment that we have in the mineral resources that we have underground and secondly, the very youthful population that we have as a continent. Unfortunately, what has happened to that is we export raw materials and then we import them as finished goods which cost the continent immeasurably."
"I am even more pleased that the African Continental Free Trade Area has now kicked into implementation mode. We see more people now engaging on the African Continental Free Trade Area because this is the only way that we are going to unlock the opportunity by creating regional value chains, inviting investors to come and invest in this continent," Busi Mabuza told the host, Ernestina Serwaa Asante.
Among other things, she talked about on BizTech includes the creation of a single agri-park. The move, she said, will help African countries produce more foods on a larger scale to solve food insecurity problems and export them to a large extent.
Touching on the upcoming BRICS Summit in August, the Chairperson of the Global BRICS Business Council (2023) said the conference will allow the continent to find ways to unlock best practices on agricultural sustainable development, as well as, ways to improve fertilizer availability which are critical to the industry.
BRICS now constitutes nearly a third of global GDP and boasts of four of the top ten largest agri-produce exporters in the world.
Two of the BRICS countries being the fastest growing economies in the world presents monumental opportunities for Africa’s commercial growth to be leveraged.
