Abuja, May 16, 2023: Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), says Africa should promote policies and infrastructure development to attract green investment and boost trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Acting Executive Secretary of ECA, Antonio Pedro, in a statement issued on the commission\u2019s website, said this at the Africa Regional Session of the 12th Annual Investment Meeting in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The theme of the Africa Regional Session is \u201cThe AfCFTA Investment Protocol \u2013 An Investment Paradigm Shift for Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pedro said: \u201cTo reap the AfCFTA opportunities we must address Africa\u2019s infrastructure gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo attract sustainable cross-border investments to Africa hard and soft infrastructure must be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is not because of the lack of blueprints, Africa has not achieved structural transformation, but rather the lack of policy space to pursue the agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He called on African countries to support the implementation of the AfCFTA with harmonised continental, regional and national trade and industrial policies that would help move from ideas into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him, AfCFTA entered into force in 2019 and constitutes a single continental market with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of approximately 2.5 trillion dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pedro said at its full realisation, the AfCFTA with the mandate of eliminating trade barriers, would be the largest free trade area in the world bringing together the 54 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the AfCFTA and the programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) of the African Union (AU), would help deepen regional integration and build regional value chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He highlighted the importance of building beyond Africa\u2019s comparative advantage of resource endowment and low costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need to invest in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), to stay competitive in the long run and build Regional Value Chains (RVCs) that can generate more value added to increase market share of African businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfrica can leverage its natural resources to create sustainable regional value chains such as the battery and electric vehicles value chain in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGreen industries are important for Africa\u2019s competitiveness in future net-zero carbon markets\u201d Pedro said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him, an African Carbon Market presents a viable structural approach to attract sustainable investment opportunities, that can drive the continent\u2019s green growth ambition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a remark, Nigeria\u2019s Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mariam Katagum, emphasised the need to reinvigorate national trade institutions to ensure inclusive and sustainable implementation of AfCFTA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor AfCFTA to become an active instrument of change, finance is needed to build capacity of the private sector and build the necessary infrastructure to connect trade paths on the continent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Anthony Kamole, Managing Director, DRC National Agency for the Promotion of Investments (ANAPI), said ANAPI was working with the government to identify legal frameworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kamole said the framework would ensure DRC\u2019s industries were leveled with other African countries, regarding standardisation of industries, tax systems, and rules for businesses establishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AfCFTA Secretariat Director, Emily Mburu, said AfCFTA\u2019s potential could be unlocked through free movement of people across the continent, to upgrade industries and leverage on the diversification of other African countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Abdoulaye Balde, Managing Director of APIX, said investments in sustainable energy would enable countries to diversify energy resources and reduction in costs of production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis can unlock industries\u2019 modernisation and improve the connection of infrastructure- and transportation across the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTraining centers targeting the youth are being established in Senegal to prepare for the quality human resources demand that will emerge from enhanced intra-African trade under the AfCFTA,\u201dBalde said.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Abuja, May 16, 2023: Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), says Africa should promote policies and infrastructure development to attract green investment and boost trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The Acting Executive Secretary of ECA, Antonio Pedro, in a statement issued on the commission\u2019s website, said this at the Africa Regional Session […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[949,241],"tags":[462],"class_list":["post-50351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-foreign","tag-eca","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n