Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, describes the implementation of the single continental market as Africa’s greatest economic recovery tool in the aftermath of the resurging coronavirus pandemic.
Addressing the inaugural biennial lecture and dialogue of the Brown Capital Management Africa Forum by the Wilson Centre, the AfCFTA project, when effectively implemented, accelerate wage growth, particularly for women and lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty.
Secretary-General Mene specifically notes that the AfCFTA would enhance the ease of doing business, simplify customs procedures, reduce non-tariff barriers to trade, lower compliance costs for investors, and facilitate African businesses’ integration into global supply chains.
Looking ahead to the future, Secretary-General Mene, emphasize AfCFTA’s long-term objectives of accelerating African industrial development, creating jobs for African youth, and better positioning the continent for global economic competitiveness.He invites U.S. investors and businesses who have not yet invested in the African marketplace to do so and encourages those already engaged to expand their investment through the market access opportunities offered by the AfCFTA.
He notes that the AfCFTA, along with the Mastercard Foundation, has already developed a private sector engagement strategy and that with the help of McKinsey & Company, has also identified the following high-priority value chains: pharmaceuticals, automotive, agro-processing, and financial technology.Secretary-General Mene concludes by stressing that the cost of not rapidly implementing the AfCFTA is simply too high, emphasizing that Africa cannot remain on the margins of the global economic arena and offering the AfCFTA as Africa’s best chance for economic development and integration.
Secretary-General Mene’s lecture was followed by a question-and-answer dialogue with more than 110 participants who attended the event in person and virtually.During this segment, participants engaged with the Secretary-General on the ways the United States can support the AfCFTA; the crucial role of small and medium businesses for African economic growth; the importance of mutual respect in U.S.-Africa relations; the logistics of reducing non-tariff barriers; and the need to better integrate women and youth into the broader African economy.
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