African countries should put maximum effort to bolster regional trade networks amongst themselves, advised AU Trade and Industry Commissioner, Mrs. Fatima Haram Acyl. ”If we do not have continental market, it is going to be very difficult for us to justify huge amount of investment in this continent. It is also hard to attract big amount of investors to invest and produce” the commissioner said while talking exclusively to ENA.
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) 2014 report, the level of intra-African trade in 2012 was 12.8% which is very low compared to other regions in the world. Currently, the share of Africa’s total exports in global trade flows is 3.5% which is also extremely low compared to other regions.
Adopted to avoid trade limitations in the continent, the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) is helping create a competitive economy among African nations especially in the service industry sector, according to Commissioner Fatima. Creation of competitive economy relies on the proper functioning of the service sector, she said, calling on African countries to diversify infrastructure and ICT development, among others, with a view to enhance engagements in CFTA. ”In the coming days we will talk about negotiation. We will adopt the rule of procedures on how we are going to proceed with the negotiation,” Mrs. Fatima elaborated. Disparity in the economic strength of African nations is also pointed out as a limiting factor for the consensus on CFTA.
CFTA in particular will create a single market for goods and services in Africa of over a billion people and a GDP of over three trillion dollars providing a good reason to invest in Africa, the commissioner said. Scaling up domestic production capacity, stimulating export capacity, value addition, employment creation and promoting competition among economies are among the pivotal roles of the CFTA.
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