AfCFTA Is Opportunity For Africa To Strengthen Intra-Africa Trade -Akufo-Addo

President of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated his call for all African countries to take full advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Africa accounts for only three percent (3%) of global trade, and intra-African trade is one of the lowest of any region globally.

This is largely due to the “colonial” economic model characterised by small individual economies, fragmented and disconnected regional markets, over-reliance on the production and export of primary commodities, and the presence of low productive capacities, which have been in existence for the last century.

President Akufo-Addo argues that the AfCFTA represents a historic opportunity for Africa and Africans to develop the continent through strengthened intra-Africa trade.

“The emergence of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), in which trading began on 1st January 2021, and whose Secretariat Ghana is privileged to host, represents a historic opportunity for Africa to strengthen, immeasurably, intra-African trade as a powerful avenue for developing Africa’s vast economic and material potential,” President Akufo-Addo said on Monday, August 7.

The President was giving a speech after the Africa Bar Association conferred on him ‘The Medal of Merit in Leadership Award” at its ongoing 2023 Annual Conference in Pretoria, South Africa.

President Akufo-Addo indicated in his acceptance speech that the time is long overdue for Africa and Africans to define our own narrative.

He stressed that Africans must be defined by what they see in themselves, and not what others choose to say about Africans.