Expert criticizes slow ratification of Africa Mining Vision by AfCFTA Member States
The slow ratification of the Africa Mining Vision by African countries participating in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been sharply criticized by Louis Yaw Afful, an expert in international trade and the AfCFTA agreement.
Speaking at the Ishmael Yamson & Associates Business Roundtable, themed “African Businesses Collaborating For Global Success”, Mr Afful lamented that only 13 African nations have ratified the Africa Mining Vision, a stark contrast to the rapid adoption of the AfCFTA agreement itself.
The Africa Mining Vision seeks to shift the continent’s mineral resources sector from raw exports to value-added production, enhancing economic benefits through improved local processing capabilities.
“AfCFTA, through the Africa Mining Vision, aims to bind governments to ensure that value is added to minerals extracted from the continent,” Afful remarked. “The vision is to develop a comprehensive value chain within the mineral sector, leveraging comparative advantages among African countries.”
This sluggish ratification process, he warned, threatens to undermine the broader objectives of the AfCFTA, which includes fostering intra-African trade and industrialization.
The Africa Mining Vision was adopted by Heads of State at the February 2009 AU summit following the October 2008 meeting of African Ministers responsible for Mineral Resources Development.
It is Africa’s own response to tackling the paradox of great mineral wealth existing side by side with pervasive poverty.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presents a major opportunity for African countries to bring 30 million people out of extreme poverty and to raise the incomes of 68 million others who live on less than $5.50 per day.
With the implementation of AfCFTA, trade facilitation measures that cut red tape and simplify customs procedures would drive $292 billion of the $450 billion in potential income gains.
Implementing AfCFTA would help usher in the kinds of deep reforms necessary to enhance long-term growth in African countries.
The trade pact connects 1.3 billion people across 54 African countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion.
The Ishmael Yamson & Associates Business Roundtable believes African businesses can work together to achieve their full potential.
The firm takes immense pride in hosting the annual Business Roundtable as its way of making a meaningful impact and driving positive change in Ghana and on the African continent.
