President Nana Akufo-Addo and Alan Kyeremateng
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will open a three-day national conference on the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in Accra today.
Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, at a press briefing in Accra, said the purpose of the conference is to bring together key stakeholders in Ghana to discuss national strategies and programme interventions to harness the benefits of the AfCFTA.
The conference is themed: “Harnessing the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area for a Ghana Beyond Aid”.
The Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) selected Ghana as the host country for the Secretariat in July at the 12th AU Extraordinary Summit held in Niamey – the capital of Niger.
The core mandate of the Secretariat will be to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, which has since been ratified by 25-member states.
Mr. Nkrumah said President Akufo-Addo would use the opportunity to articulate Ghana’s vision for the AfCFTA for a Ghana Beyond Aid.
Participants would include senior policymakers, parliamentarians, the business community, academia, representatives of civil society organizations, development partners and the media from Ghana and beyond.
Some benefits expected to be derived from implementing the AfCFTA include increasing intra-African trade through better harmonization and co-ordination of trade within the African continent and addressing the challenge of small fragmented markets in Africa by creating a single continental market which will lead to economies of scale.
It will also add value to Africa’s abundant natural resources and promote economic diversification and industrialization and develop regional value chains and facilitate cross-border investments in Africa.
The AfCFTA is also expected to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into Africa with strong regional and local contents to help address foreign exchange constraints.
By Melvin Talue