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The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen, has urged African governments and the private sector to accelerate efforts to conclude negotiations on the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) agreements.

He said the ability of governments and the private sector to reach an agreement on free trade pact, based on the agreed road map by the end of 2017 would allow the development of a single continental market to boost trade among member states.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has projected that a successful implementation of the CFTA could increase intra-Africa trade by $35 billion a year by 2022.

“The UNECA says that imports from outside the continent are projected to decrease by $10 billion per year, while agricultural and industrial exports are estimated to increase by $4 billion and $21 billion above the baseline respectively,” Mr Kyerematen said.

Prosperity conference

Addressing the 2017 African Prosperity Conference in Accra last Tuesday, Mr Kyerematen said: “As Africans, we have no choice but to start believing in the whole agenda of free trade which will depend on our capacity to conclude negotiations on continental trade agreements.”

The two-day event, on the theme: “The continental free trade (CFTA) — Exploring possibilities for business engagement across Africa,” is being attended by industry leaders, investors, exporters, importers and trade support institutions.

They will deliberate on the importance of the private sector inputs into the implementation of the free trade agreement and the role of trade in services liberalisation, among other issues.

Industrialized economies

He indicated that by 2050, Africa was projected to become the largest consumer market in the world, with a huge population that did not only have a purchasing power but the propensity to consume.

“By 2050, Africa will probably have almost 2.5 billion to three billion people out of the projected 9.7 billion people in the world and have the fastest growing middle class.

“Africa is poor but when we get money we consume. If this is the case, then why do we not take advantage of the market which is going to be the largest consumer market,” he asked.

On the implementation of the free trade, the trade minister called on African governments to industrialise their economies without which they could not engage in any profitable trade among themselves and with the rest of the world.

He also urged African nations to improve on their infrastructure, from rail, road and water transport to facilitate the movement of people and goods.

Pan-African commerce

The President of the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nana Dr Appiagyei Dankawoso I, called on the African private sector to convince governments to organise consultative processes on trade relations with Africa and the world towards the completion and implementation of the free trade agreement.

“The private sector must persuade our governments to invite them to take part in the negotiations with the aim of taking the necessary steps to achieve the best deal possible,” he added.

A Commissioner of the African Union (AU), Mr Albert Muchanga, expressed optimism that the AU heads of state would conclude negotiations by December this year on the legal text creating the CFTA.