Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has proposed three broad areas of focus, which he believes will help the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to bring about the transformation Africa needs.
Addressing a high-level conference in Accra of African Ministers of State, diplomats, policy makers and business executives, who are discussing ways of fast-tracking the implementation of the AfCFTA, Dr. Bawumia said even though the AfCFTA has set the stage for the transformation of Africa, its full prospects can only be realized through decisive steps by key African stakeholders, and a focus on some key broad areas he proposed.
“Like the vision of our forebears, the African Continental Free Trade Area has set the stage for Africa’s industrialisation drive, but, it will take concrete, strategic actions by governments and businesses on the continent, the right mix of policies, a greater sense of purpose for more robust intra-African trade to happen to support economic diversification and the much-needed industrialisation of the continent,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“To bring about the transformation we need, I propose three broad areas that we need to prioritise,” he added.
“First is the need for smart investments in critical infrastructure. As a continent, we need to produce and trade our way out of poverty and underdevelopment, and we cannot do that without investing in smart infrastructure across the continent. While the last decades have seen some positive investments, there is the need for additional resources to finance the ‘arteries for trade’, which include the physical infrastructure such as roads, rail, and energy; digital infrastructure such as data centers to facilitate the digital transformation and financial infrastructure to allow for integration financial markets.”
“We must create platforms for knowledge brokerage and access to information on critical products and services on the continent to allow 445 million small businesses across the continent to plug into the value chains of these mega industries. We need to develop Africa into a manufacturing zone that will facilitate the trade of value-added products. These, in my view, will be critical to leapfrog Africa’s industrialisation and the enormous socio-economic benefits.”
Dr. Bawumia added that the third broad area of focus should be mobilising finance and investments.
“Africa needs between US$ 130 billion and US$ 170 billion annually to bridge its infrastructure gap and generate sustainable growth at 5% per annum or more. This presents immense opportunities for the private sector investment,” he noted.
“Attracting private sector participation through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) is therefore, essential for the delivery of various infrastructure projects. Furthermore, there is a need for innovative policies to mobilize and allocate resources more effectively, and for better coordination amongst all African stakeholders and international partners.”
Source: By Laud Nartey