Prof. Paul Nugent of the Centre for African Studies at the University of Edinburg urges African leaders to put in place the necessary infrastructure that could grow and expand its border towns to serve as connecting points for cross-border trade.
According to him, rather than governments getting in the way and trying to impede, they should be opening their borders and they should be putting in place the right infrastructure that would enable border populations to build synergies with one another.
He elaborates that border towns, like Aflao in Ghana, are growing at rapid rates and therefore have the greatest potential to integrate neighbouring countries and that should be the focus of governments.
“Aflao, for instance, is a clear example of how regional integration from below really works; and I was thinking of what I would be doing if I were in government, it will be to invest in cross-border infrastructure, linking populations within border regions where there is the potential to have formal regional integration that works,” he tells Single African Market.
Prof. Nugent points out that most African governments tend to identify border towns as a problem for crime because they host people from different neighbouring states when they could be taking advantage of these towns to build regional connectivity.
He adds: “What governments should be doing is trying to put in place the physical infrastructure to encourage border markets as well as removing barriers that impede people from other sides of the border from accessing these markets.”
MMDAs empowered to explore existing opportunities in AfCFTA
The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have held a joint sensitization workshop on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to empower them to harness existing opportunities in the continental market.
The workshop, which was held in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, acknowledge locals that local authorities could facilitate the active participation of businesses, especially small and medium enterprises for their benefit.
Economic Advisor at the UNDP, Dr. Fred Mugisha, says: “We must be starting now to have these conversations at the local level so we can see what we can do to transform and help implement the continental free trade area.”
He charges local assemblies to invest in products and projects in which they have a competitive advantage.
“Even if we are looking at the benefits of the continental free trade area, we also have to think about the investments to make sure that we get those benefits,” he adds.
Senior Technical Advisor and AfCFTA Coordinator at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), Dr. Fareed Arthur, reveals that a national action plan on the implementation of the single market would soon be published.
“As part of the process of putting stakeholder concerns from the various meetings and fora into work, the National Office decides to put in place a strategy that will enable Ghanaians to export.
He tasks local assemblies to identify their priority areas with a competitive advantage and work strongly towards attracting the right investments to those sectors.
“When we talk about industrial locations it becomes a huge challenge; the talk of industrial parks remains a dream to many districts. But these are the things that should be ready if we are preparing ourselves for the AfCFTA,” he indicates.
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