The ManicaPost
Nyasha Mapasa Business Correspondent
THE private sector should have a clear understanding of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and take lead in its implementation as it is the major beneficiary of the deal, a UN official has said.
The trade agreement that is expected to take effect from July 2020 will attract additional intra-African investment and create market opportunities to foster Africa’s industrialisation through regional value chains.
AfCFTA was established on March 21 last year by African Heads of State and is set to create the biggest free trade area in the world (in terms of number of countries participating) with a market of more than 1.29 billion people and a combined GDP of more than US$2.5 trillion.
Speaking at a workshop on the Sensitisation of the Private Sector on the AfCFTA organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the African Union Commission, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) programme management officer Mr Batanai Chikwene urged the private sector to have a clear understanding of the agreement so that they would be able to use it to their advantage.
“The private sector is actually the key player in terms of implementing the agreement and if it’s not even aware of it then they cannot use it to their advantage.
“These in the private sector should talk to their associations and respective ministries so that they have the document broken down to them. They should tell Government through different ministries the challenges they are facing in exporting and importing. It is essential that they have a clear understanding of AfCFTA so that they can benefit from it,” he said.
Speaking to Post Business, an SMEs expert and founder of Southern African Development Consultants (SODECO), Mrs Joseline Sithole, said ignorance was the major hindrance stopping SMEs from exporting to different countries.
“This workshop has been very helpful because it has conscientised SMEs on different trade areas that they can focus on.
“Prior to this, most SMEs were only limited to South Africa but now they know that they have all these trade agreements like SADC, COMESA and our newly AfCFTA at their disposal. It is time for the private sector to look beyond Zimbabwe’s neighbouring countries and explore trade and investment opportunities in the rest of continent in both trade in goods and trade in services,” she said.
Mr Chikwene also said key reforms should be put in place to improve productivity and stimulate competitiveness.
“Key reforms are required to ensure that industrialization, trade and investment generate optimum benefits for Zimbabwe. These include reforms in the areas of trade facilitation, infrastructure development, and the general policy environment to facilitate the evolution of a competitive industrial sector able to capture opportunities arising from the AfCFTA.
“For the benefits of the AfCFTA to be fully realised, it has to be backed up by increased productive capacity, enhanced regional value chains, and removal of internal obstacles to promote the growth of SMEs so that Zimbabwean companies can compete well in the liberalised regional market,” he said.
