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The director of regional
integration and trade at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Stephen
Karingi, told an online group of journalists on 11 May 2020 that the African
Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could help African economies recover from
the impact of COVID-19.
“Boosting intra-African
trade can serve as an alternative stimulus package for job creation, foreign
exchange, industrial development and economic growth,” said Mr. Karingi.
He said if Africa had
implemented agreements and frameworks such as the AfCFTA, Pharmaceutical
Manufacturing Plan for Africa, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development
Programme, and the Accelerated Industrial Development for Africa plan, “our
economies would have been more diversified, stronger, and less affected by
COVID19.”
The trade expert noted,
however, that “COVID-19 has proven that African countries can adapt and respond
to demand.”
He cited, among others, the
examples of South Africa where U-Mask has redirected its production from
protective masks for mining and agriculture to that for medical respiratory
masks, and Nigeria where the National Agency for Science and Engineering
Infrastructure produced made in Nigeria ventilators.
An ECA report on the impact
of COVID-19 on Africa states that between 300,000 and 3.3 million Africans
could lose their lives as a direct result of the pandemic.
Therefore, given the urgent
need for governments to focus efforts on protecting lives from COVID-19, the 1
July 2020 start date for trade under the AfCFTA has been moved to at least 1
January 2021.
Mr. Karingi said such delay
offers a window of opportunity for creative thinking on how the AfCFTA can be
reconfigured to reflect the new realities and risks of the 21st century,
stating “this is needed to better position the African economy in the face of
future adverse shocks emanating from novel viruses and climate change, among
others.”
He emphasised the need to
maintain the AfCFTA momentum and ambition that existed before COVID -19. This,
he said, will enable Africa recover and build long-term resilience.
David Luke, Coordinator of
the African Trade Policy Centre, reiterated the need for Africa to diversify
its sources of supply chain, stating “even developed countries that depended on
only one or two countries for critical parts of their supply chain are now
talking about localising production.”
He noted that COVID-19 has
shed light on the underdeveloped status of African supply and value chains and
that supply chain diversification fits very well into the industrialisation
agenda that Africa already has.
“We need to think creatively
about how our existing development frameworks could be adapted to emerging
opportunities generated by this crisis,” he underlined.
Mr. Karingi said COVID-19
has highlighted the importance of digital technologies and that “Member States
should consider front-loading negotiations on e-commerce to coincide with the
closely linked phase II negotiations of the AfCFTA.”
The webinar was part of a
series of virtual press briefings organised by ECA in collaboration with the
African Women in Media network to raise awareness on issues contained in a
recently launched ECA report titled “COVID-19 in Africa: Protecting Lives and
Economies”
Mr. Karingi told the
journalists that they have a responsibility to “always remind our leaders” on
continental commitments “so that they don’t remain just as treaties in the
books but rather as agreements that are signed, ratified and implemented.”
Distributed by APO Group on
behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
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