Accra, April 27, 2018//-Ghana’s Parliament today ratified the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which seeks to create a single market for goods and services on the continent.
It also aims at facilitating free movement of persons and capital to promote economic integration as well as improving intra-Africa trade.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament before the ratification of the agreement, Ghana’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremanten, revealed that Ghana had formal made a request to the African Union (AU) to host the AfCFTA Secretariat in the country.
According to him, processes leading to the final selection of the country to host the Secretariat had already started and a decision would be taken at the next summit of the Heads of State and Government in July, this year.
“A pre-condition for selection is that the member state should have ratified the trade agreement”.
Mr. Kyeremanten is confident that the early ratification of the agreement is going to strengthen Ghana’s chances and insisting that the trade agreement is good for Ghana and Africa.
Contributing to the debate, a Ranking Member on Trade and Industry, Fifii Kwetey urged the government to go beyond the endorsement and take full advantage of the AfCFTA which has been described as the “world’s largest trade agreement”.
A Ranking Member on legal and Constitutional Committee, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, noted that the agreement should send powerful signal to the Europeans and the others that African are determined to trade among themselves to lift their people out of poverty.
Meanwhile, a Ranking Member on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa used the occasion to appeal to Nigeria and South Africa, the two economic giants, which opted out of the agreement, to reconsider their stand and join.
In March 2018, African leaders signed a framework establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area, the largest free trade agreement since the creation of the World Trade Organisation.
The free trade area aims to create a single market for goods and services in Africa. By 2030 the market size is expected to include 1.7 billion people with over USD$ 6.7 trillion of cumulative consumer and business spending – that’s if all African countries have joined the free trade area by then.
African Eye Report
