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Company News of Friday, July 12, 2019
Source: Ghananewsagency.org
2019-07-12
Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta
Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, said Ghana's hosting of the African Free Trade Agreement Secretariat (AFCFTA) would create an opportunity for the country to become the hub of trade facilitation and investments in Africa.
According to him, the Continental Free Trade Area, which would constitute the largest trading bloc in the world with a GDP of about 3 trillion US dollars and 1.3 billion inhabitants, would begin the year. economic emancipation of the inhabitants of the continent.
Mr. Ofori-Atta highlighted this point in a contribution to a statement by Mr. Alan Kyerematen, Minister of Trade and Industry in Parliament, Accra, on the constitution of AfCFTA and the selection of Ghana for reception of the Secretariat.
The creation of a single market for Africa has long been the dream of the founding fathers of most major countries of the continent.
The Abuja Declaration of 1991 of the Authority of Heads of State of the Organization of African Unity envisaged the creation of an African Economic Community. One of the building blocks of the creation of this community was the creation of a Continental Free Trade Area for Africa.
The realization of the vision of a single market did not materialize until the AU Summit of Heads of State and Government in January 2012, which officially approved the decision to create an African Continental Free Trade Area. Since the adoption of this decision, many preparations and negotiations have been conducted by the Member States, which ultimately resulted in the landmark decision of the AU Summit in Kigali on 21 March 2018 to officially conclude the first one. phase of the negotiations of the continental free trade agreement.
Mr. Ofori-Atta also noted that since the time of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the work that he has accomplished for the OAU, now the African Union (AU), the AfCFTA is the first important organ of the AU to be hosted by Ghana.
He welcomed the determination and unity of the former Ghanaian Chairmen to bring it to fruition. He congratulated President Nana Akufo-Addo for working hard to convince the heads of state of her colleagues to support Ghana's candidacy.
In his presentation, Mr. Alan Kyerematen invited Ghana to seize the opportunity to host the AfCFTA secretariat to become the new commercial capital of Africa, a hub regional trade and an epic economic center as well as a new gateway to the continent.
He said the Secretariat's accommodation would make Ghana an attractive destination for investment and would actively facilitate foreign direct investment in the country.
He said that the Secretariat's accommodation would provide opportunities to recruit many Ghanaian professionals and administrative staff to work in the Secretariat.
Mr. Clement Kofi Humado, MP for Anlo, said that CAFTA would change the game in that existing North-South trade relations in which Africa was trading more with Europe than between itself had to evolve gradually towards a reciprocal trade.
He added that CFTA would help catalyze existing regional blocs and push them to act to achieve their regional goals.
He also paid tribute to President Nana Akufo-Addo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the team for their lobbying skills to ensure that Ghana is selected to host the AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra.
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