The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has declared that internal trading will earn Africa at least $70 billion development assistance if leaders in the continent take the right steps.
Silver Ojakol who is the Chief of Staff of the AfCFTA Secretariat, made the assertion at the 2023 Regional Integration Issues Forum which held in Accra, Ghana.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the RIIF is a sensitisation mechanism and an interface platform for stakeholders involved in regional integration and continental trade initiatives.
The 2023 RIIF aimed at increasing awareness of the AfCFTA and its benefits for SMEs as well as to strengthen SMEs’ capacity to engage in intra-African trade.
In a statement which was sighted by Africa Today News, New York on Friday, the AfCFTA said large earnings would be initiated if the Small and Medium Enterprises collaborate and embrace the tenets of AfCFTA to overcome trade barriers.
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Ojakol, who spoke on behalf of the AfCFTA Secretary General, Wamkele Mene, emphasised the importance of the AfCFTA for SMEs, noting that the agreement was not for big corporations.
‘The agreement was designed and framed for the women and young men who on a daily basis face challenges across the continent when crossing neighbouring borders to trade in goods and services.
‘If African countries came together and achieved just one percentage increase in trade amongst itself, we would earn $70 billion, which will be higher than the $58 billion given by donors as development assistance,’ he noted.
Also, the Executive Director, Centre for Regional Integration in Africa, Prof Lehlohonolo Tlou, indicated the importance of capacity building and equipping SMEs with the requisite skills and knowledge to break intra-Africa trade barriers and produce what it needs.
Tlou emphasised that 60 years after the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity and the African Union, intra-African trade is abysmally low at 16 per cent.