The Minister for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, Hon. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has reiterated Ghana’s strong commitment to the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), describing it as a game-changer in transforming trade dynamics across the African continent.
She made the remarks during an interaction with a delegation from the Pan-African Parliament Committee on Trade, Customs, and Immigration Matters, who are in Ghana on a four-day mission to assess the country’s implementation of the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative and advocate for the ratification of the AU Protocol on Free Movement of Persons.
The delegation is made up of Hon. Rodney Cloefe (Namibia); Hon. Hanna Belkhir (Morocco); and Hon. Jonathan Daka (Zambia); Ms. Marina Da Trinidad – Committee Clerk; and Mr. Jeffrey Onganga – Head of Media and Communications.
Hon. Ofosu-Adjare highlighted Ghana’s pride in hosting the headquarters of the AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra and encouraged the visiting delegation to include a stop at the Secretariat or the Ghana Coordinating Office in their itinerary.
“Ghana houses the headquarters of the African Continental Free Trade Area. If your itinerary will permit, you should visit the AfCFTA headquarters. Even if you are unable to meet the Secretary General, we can arrange a visit to the Ghana Coordinating Office,” she said.
The Minister emphasized that one of the key challenges hindering the smooth flow of trade among African countries is the lack of harmonized standards. She explained that differences in national certification processes often delay cross-border trade and increase costs for businesses.
“If you are exporting to Liberia and they have different standards from Ghana, it means you can’t just take your gari there. Even if it is certified by Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority, you may still have to wait several weeks for re-certification before selling on the Liberian market,” she noted.
To address this, she disclosed that Ghana is spearheading efforts to harmonize standards across West Africa, beginning with a meeting of West African trade ministers, with the goal of eventually extending the initiative to the continental level.
“We are putting together a meeting of West African Ministers to look at the harmonization of standards. With your support, we will elevate it to the level of African Ministers who are already showing interest. If we don’t start bit by bit, we won’t go anywhere,” she stressed.
Hon. Ofosu-Adjare also expressed optimism that Ghana’s leadership in promoting seamless, quota-free, and duty-free trade will inspire other African countries to join and strengthen the continental free trade agenda.
“At this Ministry, we take AfCFTA very seriously. We will continue to make trade seamless across Africa because this is the biggest single market in the world, and people are ready to learn from us. We must continue to lead to the end,” she affirmed.
The Minister commended the Pan-African Parliament Committee for their visit, expressing hope that their engagement would contribute to the broader continental agenda of achieving an integrated and prosperous Africa through trade.
Source: Clement Akoloh||africanewsradio.com
