Mr. Isaac Hubert Arthur, the Executive Director of ACINTaD, said African countries must put in place strong institutions and quality infrastructure in order to derive the needed benefit from participating in the continental free trade area.

“There will be a need for strong national institutions and quality infrastructure put in place in order to ensure that the AfCFTA is brought to communities,” Mr. Arthur said.

He explained that both soft and hard infrastructure such as national and regional policies, laws, systems, framework and quality road corridors, high speed rail networks, ports and harbours, and efficient air transport respectively must be put in place.

Mr. Arthur made these known in Niamey, Niger during the AfCFTA Civil Society Forum 2019, an event organized on the sidelines of an Extraordinary Summit of the African Union Heads of State from 3rd – 7th July 2019.

 

The Forum was organized by the African Union Commission in partnership with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa, under the theme, “Enhancing Civil Society Engagement in the AfCFTA to Broaden Inclusivenes.”

The purpose of the Civil Society Forum 2019 was, among others, to enhance stakeholder engagement on the implementation of the AfCFTA and increase participation opportunities for civil society stakeholders in the work program of the AfCFTA.

The Forum brought together participants from Africa Civil Society Organizations and umbrella Organizations on trade, labor, women and youth, members of African Union Economic, Social & Cultural Council (AU ECOSOCC), and many others.

Mr. Arthur, who was speaking on a panel under the session ‘Bringing the AfCFTA Closer to the African People’, emphasized that the AfCFTA must benefit all Africans, hence the need to interrogate the best ways and measures to ensure that all Africans are made aware of the AfCFTA.

According to him, the governments must use a holistic approach in engaging all key stakeholders including CSOs, academic institutions, businesses, particularly SMEs, and relevant public sector organisations.

He said businesses should play the role of providing resources for advocacy, research, documentation and dissemination as well as capacity building for successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The AUC’s Deputy Chairperson, Mr. Kwesi Quartey, commended the Department of Trade and Industry for the initiative and noted that if successfully implemented, “the AfCFTA could generate a combined consumer and business spending of USD 6.7 trillion by 2030, accelerate industrial development, expand economic diversification, and facilitate quality job creation for Africa’s women and youth.”

Speaking on behalf of the Executive Secretary of UNECA, Director of Gender, Poverty and Social Protection, Ms. Thokozile Ruzvidzo, said the AfCFTA could boost intra-African trade from its current level of 16 per cent to 52 per cent by 2022, according to UNECA studies.

She noted, however, that visa and other immigration restrictions have constrained mobility within Africa and “increased the vulnerability of migrant and refugee populations on the continent.”

The forum acknowledged the need for national policies to support production and consumption of goods and services that will be identifiable as being “Made in Africa” using quality standards.