Stakeholders urge Africans to think, produce, consume Africa

Some stakeholders have called on Africans to think, produce and consume goods produced on the continent to promote growth and development in Africa.

They made the call at the 2023 Africa Economic Conference (AEC) in Addis-Ababa on Thursday with the theme” The Imperative for Sustainable Industrial Development in Africa.”

They spoke during the plenary, High-Level Development Dialogue: How could Africa leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to spur sustainable inclusive industrialisation.

Supreme News reports that AfCFTA aims to unite 54 diverse economies, creating a single market for 1.5 billion people in Africa.

The stakeholders urged African countries to prioritise equitable market access, reduce trade barriers, and promote fair competition to implement the AfCFTA.

Prof. Kevin Urama, Chief Economist and Vice-President, African Development Bank Group (AfDB), said there was a need for Africans to focus on infrastructure development on the continent.

“To fully implement the AfCFTA, African member states should prioritise production with focus on manufacturing.

”We need to invest more on hard infrastructure such as the roads, rails, airlines for moving goods to market and to improve on factors of production and manufactured goods.

”Trade barriers among countries is still a challenge, making trade difficult, thus, the need to address these challenges.

”There is a need to also invest in border agencies and customs to remove the barriers and improve the efficacy of AfCFTA.”

Mr Melaku Alebel, Minister of Industry, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, said export and import promotion was crucial to enhance the manufacturing sector on the continent.

Alebel said Ethiopia was actively pursuing various mechanisms on manufacturing through AfCFTA to create employment opportunities and economic growth.

He said the country invested highly in policy, regulatory reforms and infrastructure such as railway, airlines energy, and road to promote industrialisation,

The minister called for industrial transformation and strengthening of the local value chain to ensure growth on the continent.

Mr Matthias Naab, Director, Regional Services Center, UNDP, decried limited access to affordable financing for entrepreneurs in spite of the huge resources available on the continent.

He said ensuring inclusivity, infrastructure challenge and digital divide posed a challenge as women and youth faced discrimination to access services.

Naab called on governments to address these challenges, adding that UNDP was training young people and organisations for home grown solutions and how to easily access financing.

”African countries need to address risk factors, making the source of capital very high, and leverage private sector financing.

”Domestic revenue mobilisation is still low; therefore countries need to implement policies for revenue mobilisation.

Mr Adam Elhiraika, Director of Macroeconomics and Governance Division, ECA, , said there was a need for a new narrative that focuses on structural transformation through industrialisation in Africa.

“Africa’s potential is huge, but for us to utilise this to finance investment in manufacturing, we need a comprehensive macroeconomic framework.

”We must not export raw materials without adding value. We need producers on the continent to use materials available locally,”he said.

Similarly, Mr Million Habte, Coordinator, AfCFTA Implementation via National Committees, AfCFTA Secretariat, reiterated the importance of countries to implement AfCFTA.

According to him, AfCFTA has a holistic approach on free trade on the continent driven by member states.

”In addition to trade of goods and services, it encompasses other areas of investment, youth and women’s inclusivity, digital trade among others,”he said.

Earlier, Stephen Karingi, Director, Regional Integration and Trade Division, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) called for right policies on the continent.

” We need commitment by member states on policy and economic reforms that are home grown to promote industrialisation on the continent.

”The promise of the AfCFTA is to unite African economies and create one single market for 1.5 billion people in Africa to promote African trade.

”This however requires political will by the member states,” Karingi said.

Supreme News reports that the conference is jointly hosted by the AfDB, ECA and UNDP.

The 18th session of AEC brought together leaders, youth, African scholars, academics, private sector operators, and development practitioners to discuss research and propose policy recommendations on the continent.