His Excellency the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr Mahammudu Bawumia, has called for cooperation in the development of regional assets by member countries of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Speaking as the Special Guest of Honour during the 2021 virtual edition of the Ghana International Petroleum Conference (Ghipcon) on the theme Positioning Africa’s Petroleum Downstream for AfCFTA, Vice President Dr Bawumia, posited that the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant protectionist interventions by major global suppliers to Africa should be a wake up call for African nations to cooperate more and build self-sustaining economies.
Citing the cooperation and development of regional assets such as building refineries and increasing logical assets in the petroleum downstream sector for instance, will ensure the economies of scale required to achieve the commercial viability of national refineries which are in most cases commercially unsustainable.
“The Covid-19 pandemic and protectionist interventions by major suppliers to Africa is a wake up call for African nations to cooperate more in building self sustaining economies and while some national refineries maybe commercially unsustainable in some cases, we should be cooperating in the development of regional assets and using refineries and logistical assets to achieve the economies of scale required for commercial viability,” he noted.
Speaking further, the Vice President asserted AfCFTA provides the industries and in this case the petroleum industry with the perfect opportunity to contribute to the realisation of a first world Africa as the success of the trade pact will depend on the operational framework and commitments of all actors particularly the private sector.
“AfCFTA is a decision of the authority of Heads of States, but its success depends on the work of industry and the collaboration between industry and bureaucrats at the implementation level. It is for this reason that I find the Ghipcon theme relevant to the success of the AfCFTA,” he sated.
On the AfCFTA, Dr Bawumia noted that the trade agreemnt is expected to increase the continent’s present combined GDP of $2.5 trillion to $29 trillion by 2050 and also expand intra-African trade currently hovering around 15 per cent to around 80 per cent.
“Africa has considerable resources which can help accelerate growth if used strategically, Africa is home to 30% of the world’s mineral resources. Africa has 9.6% of world crude oil, 80% of platinum, 76% of cobalt, 51% of manganese, 46% of diamond, 39% of chromium, 22% of gold and with 60% of global arable land with just 13% of global population.”
“With 60% of our population below 25 years, Africa is the most youthful continent and needs urgent economic transformation to sustain its people, we are at an economic crossroad, one that needs team work to achieve a transformation of economies for the betterment of our people. With all the natural and human resources endowments, we risk an economic catastrophe if many of our teeming youth remain unemployed and hungry as a result of our failure to harness them productively to accelerate growth,” added the Vice President.
The 2021 edition of the Ghana International Petroleum Conference (Ghipcon), has the overall objective of focusing on the readiness of the African petroleum downstream industry to take advantage of opportunities offered by the AfCFTA.
