The certified firms were assisted through the (Ghana) National AfCFTA Coordination Office, which serves as the liaison between Ghana and the AfCFTA Secretariat.

The firms are part of the 230 potential exporters identified to be guided through AfCFTA processes, procedures and protocols as they develop their products to be exported.

A certificate of origin is a document which attests that a product listed has met certain criteria to be considered as originating in a particular country.

It is issued by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI).

The National Coordinator at the (Ghana) National AfCFTA Coordination Office, Dr Fareed Kwasi Arthur, who made this known at the opening of a workshop in Accra yesterday, said two out of the 30 firms had been exporting under AfCFTA since October this year.

The two — Benso Oil Palm Plantation Limited and KEDA Ghana Ceramics Company Limited — exported palm oil products to Kenya and ceramics to Cameroon, respectively.

He said the coordination officer assisted the companies to meet the necessary protocol for the shipment of their consignments.

Dr Arthur said under the initiative, a company needed a certificate of origin issued by a competent authority, such as the Customs Division and the GNCCI.

He said the certificate of origin accompanied the consignment to help the authorities of the designated country determine whether or not the goods were from a member country under the agreement.

The coordinator said the issuance of the certificate was also to ensure that goods or products to be shipped met the necessary requirements under the protocol.

Official trading

Dr Arthur explained that trading under AfCFTA formally started on January 1, last year, with Kasapreko Company Limited and Ghandour Cosmetics Limited shipping their products within the African continent to test the process.

However, he said, official trading commenced on October 7, this year, making it the world's largest free trade area in terms of participating member states after the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

He said the AfCFTA initiative had great economic, trade, as well as social, advantages for Africa if the continent advanced in infrastructure connectivity.

Maximising gains

Dr Arthur said the country had also put in place other institutional frameworks to help maximise gains from the initiative, including the establishment of the AfCFTA inter-ministerial committee, a national steering committee and technical working groups on all the seven clusters for boosting intra-African trade.

Additionally, he said, it had designed the AfCFTA National Action Plan and the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) meant to help revitalise the country’s export development efforts, with a strong focus on Africa’s over 1.2 billion consumer market.

The workshop

The two-day workshop, being organised by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), seeks to build the capacities of participants on AfCFTA.

It is meant for 30 participants, who are mainly affiliates of TUC.

It features topics such as trade investment, decent work and the role of trade unions in influencing trade policies.

A Senior Technical Specialist at the ILO, Inviolata Chinyangarara, said trade unions were critical in the development of national policies across the globe.

She explained that the voices of trade unions needed to be heard to influence trade and investment policies.

“We are happy to collaborate with the TUC to build the capacities of its affiliate on the AfCFTA initiative,” she added.