The Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, says equitable distribution of the gains of AfCFTA will be at the centre of its implementation.
He said that was because if AfCFTA was perceived to be benefiting only a handful of relatively industrialised countries in Africa, and African multinational corporations, it could be rejected by Africans.
“Ensuring that no group, sector or country feels marginalised or excluded from the benefits of the AfCFTA, it will help to address the root causes of conflicts, give hope to our citizenry and set us on the road towards prosperity, seizing this century as ours,” he said.
Mr Mene was speaking at a session at the just ended second Antalya Diplomacy Forum held in Turkey from March 11 to 13, 2022 on the theme “Recoding Diplomacy”.
The forum is a platform for regional and global actors from the spheres of diplomacy, policy, and business to exchange ideas and address international challenges.
Mr Mene spoke on one of the sessions on the sub-theme “A Vision for Development in Africa,” which sought to stimulate discussions on continental development efforts and beyond in Africa, with an emphasis on the AfCFTA.
He said Africa wanted to use the continental economic and trade integration to build an inclusive, sustainable African economy, and with the AfCFTA, 1.3 billion Africans had greater opportunities than ever before to benefit from, and contribute to, the African economy and development.
The AfCFTA, he said, presented an opportunity to turn a new page on Africa’s economic growth and development trajectory; to achieve its long-standing goal of economic diversification, through industrialisation, to further raise the standard of living of its people, and to reduce poverty.
Describing the transformational opportunity presented by the AfCFTA as unprecedented, he said the Secretariat was determined to make a success of this opportunity despite the challenges and the negative impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“An integrated, more prosperous, and peaceful Africa is in everyone’s interest. Like a global public good, it would translate into more trade and investment, more jobs, and more security for all,” he said.
According to Mr Mene, the World Bank had forecasted that if fully implemented, the AfCFTA agreement would boost regional income of $450 billion, speed up wage growth for women; lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035 while wages for both skilled and unskilled workers will also be increased by 10.3 per cent for unskilled workers, and 9.8 per cent for skilled workers.
“Africa’s economic integration is no longer a matter of choice, it is necessary if Africa is to industrialise, develop intra-regional trade, strengthen capacities to benefit from globalisation, reduce vulnerability to fluctuating overseas markets, mobilise and maximise scarce resources of capital and skills, and finally forge the way to effective African unity, both political and economic,” he said.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
