The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement offers Ghanaian businesses the opportunity to trade in a market worth $3.4 trillion; however, only a few Ghanaian firms are aware of the opportunity.
For instance, only 25 per cent of (one in four) agribusinesses in Ghana know of the AfCFTA agreement, even though its headquarters is in the country.
To improve the awareness of Ghanaian businesses on the opportunities of AfCFTA, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has engaged officials of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) on the need to help businesses operating in their area have much information of the agreement.
At the event, the Director-General of NDPC, Dr Kojo Essiem Mensah Abrampa, told the officials of the MMDAs to participate in all the activities of AfCFTA to know much about it (AfCFTA) so that they could coach businesses to reap the full benefits of AfCFTA.
“It is important to bring the AfCFTA agreement to the local government level and integrate local economies into the regional market”, he said
“This is the time for all districts to leverage on their competitive advantage to stay relevant; as manufacturers, we must relook at the goods we produce and enhance them to compete with global brands”, he added.
The Economic Advisor of the UNDP, Dr Frederick Mugisha, said the successful implementation of AfCFTA would help reduce poverty and inequality in Africa, adding that that could be achieved through sustainable structural transformation.
He, therefore, called for more investment in the local economies, especially at the District and Municipal Assemblies levels, to create more efficient regional value chains to enhance competitiveness in the African Market.
“The future of AfCFTA is local and calls for more investment for the opportunities to be fully leveraged. This means adding more value to products and repositioning to compete and penetrate the African market,” he added.
Ishmael Batoma, ISD
