This epistle is to reiterate our clarion call to the African leaders to unity “Africa Must Unite” to fight against the common enemy to make progress for the common good of the African people”. There are too many wars on the continent. There is so much killing of Africans especially the innocent youth, women and children.
This epistle is to reiterate our clarion call to the African leaders to unity “Africa Must Unite” to fight against the common enemy to make progress for the common good of the African people”. There are too many wars on the continent. There is so much killing of Africans especially the innocent youth, women and children.
All in the hands of fellow Africans in the pursuit of tribal, ethnic, religious, social or political differences etc.
Furthermore, the incidents of coups and the constant toppling of governments pose a great threat to any hope for progressive alliance within the region. Without the evidence of stable governments and a peaceful socio-political climate, especially within the borders, there can be no hope of economic growth. Trading in goods and services is replaced with trading in bullets and Red Cross services for rehabilitation of the casualties.
These rifts are dividing Africa the more to the advantage of the colonial maters who are the architects of imperialism which is our common enemy.
Africa is a land of inspiration, expectation and exploration. Africa is a vision of beautiful dreams gradually materialising in real-time. Africa is emerging into the global marketplace. It is daunting though, that Africa is the second largest continent in the world; yet Africa is not counted as a formidable force in the global economy. That is about to change through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement AFCFTA.
On the quest for building into the future, Mark Zuckerberg the successful CEO of famous Facebook once said “You may be thinking- I don’t know how to build a dam, I don’t know how to get a million people involved in anything. Well, let me tell you a secret: No one does when they begin, ideas don’t come out fully formed, they only become clear as you work on them. You just have to get started”.
The path to success is to take massive, determined actions. Successful leaders who embark on successful projects are never deterred by anxiety, fear or failure but by authentic will and unwavering determination.
The question then is – when we call at remembrance; what do we see? Do we see the authentic will? Or do we see abject leadership failure? African leaders must embark on socioeconomic development strategies that are sustainable in order to create a sustainable future for Africa and the African people.
Currently, Africa lags behind other regions of the world in terms of continental trade.
According to the African Development Bank (ADB), intra-Africa exports amount to only 16.6% of total trade. Unfortunately, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) did not kick off on 1 July as originally scheduled, due to the
coronavirus crisis in addition to other reasons responsible for the stalling. The good news is that the tide is gradually shifting positively. African leaders from 44 African nations gathered at the African Union Summit from March 17th to 21st 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda, and signed the Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) treaty to create the world’s largest single market. By the summer of 2022, 54 out of the 55 nations of the African Union (AU) had duly signed the agreement.
This will be the largest trade agreement in history since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The pact aims to boost intra-African trade by making Africa a single market of 1.2 billion people and a cumulative GDP of over $3.4 trillion. The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) estimates that the implementation of the agreement could increase intra-African trade by 52% by 2022 (compared with trade levels in 2010) and double the share of intra-African trade (currently around 13% of Africa’s exports) by the start of the next decade.
To establish a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business professionals and investments, accelerating the establishment of the Continental Customs Union and the African Customs Union.
To expand intra-African trade through better harmonization and coordination of trade liberalization and facilitation across Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Africa. Resolve the challenges of multiple and overlapping memberships and expedite the integration processes.
Enhance competitiveness at the industry and enterprise level by exploiting opportunities for scale production, continental market access and better reallocation of resources. According to a research paper published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
in February 2018, the CFTA offered many opportunities for sustainable development and economic growth in the African economies. As African Leaders work together to realise these objectives, Africa will no longer be missing in action. Africa will command their rightful position on the global stage. As the second largest economy in the world, the dividends of trade would project Africa in a new dimension so far unimaginable by any trade forecast. Most of the benefits of further trade integration (i.e. welfare benefits from lower import prices, production efficiency and increase in outputs, higher value-added jobs and exports, technological specialization, etc.) will materialize in the long term, while most of the associated costs of adjustment and integration (i.e. loss in trade tariff revenue, local SME’s vanishing in front of stronger competition, adjusting unemployment, required investment in infrastructure, political and regulatory reforms, etc.) will be incurred in the short term.
African trade growth is estimated at 33% and the continent’s trade deficit is expected to drop by 50.9%. UNCTAD also estimates the employment effect of the agreement by sub-sector.
The agricultural sector is extremely relevant for the African economies since it employed about 53% of the continent’s labour force in 2016. Governments are worried about possible adverse impacts of the CFTA on the agriculture sector’s economic growth, which would massively affect employment across the continent. Even though the largest employment growth rates are found in manufacturing and services sectors, agriculture sub-sectors are also expected to grow exponentially. Agriculture will also benefit from the creation of a more viable African marketplace for food.
Enhanced trade in agricultural products will also promote agro-processing and further sectoral linkages with manufacturing.
The CFTA is a great step forward towards economic integration, but there is still a long road ahead. African governments must commit to keep working so that the gains from the CFTA are distributed as fairly as possible, making sure no one is left behind, and ensuring that the CFTA becomes a catalyst for sustainable economic development for the continent as a whole Another key factor to fully exploit the potential benefits of the CFTA is infrastructure.
Addressing Africa’s physical infrastructure gap will require $93 billion per year worth of public and private investment. Even though African exports to the world are undiversified and mostly composed of raw materials, intra-Africa exports (exports between African countries) contain more value-added products.
The trade agreement is amplifying the urgent need for African nations to embark on aggressive construction and refurbishment of human and physical infrastructures within the continent of Africa capable of facilitating the anticipated flow of trade throughout the continent and beyond. A major win, win for the African people.
Faith as we know it; is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Our ancestors built the nations on Hope and thrived over time. The average African youth today will tell you that they have no Faith in their leaders based on their poor performance. Consequentially, there is endemic lack of Hope in the continent. Good leadership begets Hope. Hope is the by-product of Faith and evidently, there is a lack of Faith in the continent. It is equally right to say that Hope is the vehicle that drives hard work and where there is a lack of Hope, labour performance dwindles.
Sustainable development begins with Investment in the youth which is the engine of growth in every nation. For any economic growth, there must be readily available human infrastructure upon which any development in physical infrastructure can be actualised.
As such, the initial emphasis must be directed towards massive investment in human capacity development. Massive investment in the various levels of education and training especially for the youth.
There is never enough resources anywhere in the world. The successful economies invest the limited resources available to them rather efficiently and they are rewarded with the harvest of mega success. It’s high time Africa emulates them.
In conclusion, the intent and focus of this editorial is to reiterate our clarion call for African Leaders to embrace peace and unity in order to fight the common enemy of the African people with vigour and synergy. The progressive alliance must focus on taking Africa out of the rot the continent has been willowing in for decades. There is a great opportunity to make that happen through the AFCFTA treaty. The Hope of which will usher Africa into the global sage through trade and infrastructural development throughout the regions of the continent.
As such the four cardinal points of this epistle are –
#Sustainable Development,
#Technology &
Telecommunication,
#Agriculture, and
#Infrastructures.
The Will to live hinges on the Hope that foresees a brighter future irrespective of the gloomy condition of the present. The anchor of that Hope is inherent in the Faith of the people that drives them to the expected future. Through the ages, Africa has lived by Faith and still working on perceived Hope for a brighter future. The Almighty God is the author and finisher of our Faith so help us, God.
Comments
adamgordon
Wow, cool post, thanks for sharing.
miaqueen
Thanks for sharing this information is useful for us.