African manufacturers under the auspices of the Pan-African Manufacturers Association (PAMA) have restated their determination to promote and trigger engagement in Intra-Africa trade and cross-border value chains.
Speaking at the virtual meeting of the ‘Lighting of the Africa Trade Torch’, the interim chairman of PAMA, Engr. Mansur Ahmed said, the association aims to encourage cooperation between African manufacturers such that there can be market transformation in order to grow Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) and subsequently create value chains to achieve Africa’s industrialisation agenda.
Lighting of the Africa Trade Torch is designed to celebrate the commencement of trading activities under the African Continental Free Trade (AfCFTA) Agreement.
He stated the association will equally serve as a central continental body that would engage the African union and other continental bodies on behalf of African manufacturers on matters concerning the growth and development of their industry.
Ahmed added that, African manufacturers can be rest assured that with PAMA, there would be an increase in intra-Africa trade through the creation of competitive and comparative advantages for different markets, saying, “our challenge is to boost greater cooperation between manufacturers and countries, and to constantly remind African manufacturers that they can and should think bigger and bolder.”
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo stated that there can be no AfCFTA without the full participation of the private sector, as the key driver of economies within the continent and beyond.
“Thus, the private sector has the sole power to operationalize the agreement. However, the effects of the AfCFTA on economic and social transformation depends on the degree to which the private sector can seize the opportunities the agreement provides, make African economies more competitive and enable development and elevation of regional value chains with focus on SMEs,” he said.
Report by PWC said SMEs in Nigeria contribute about 48 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which has been consistent in the last five years. They also account for about 96 per cent of businesses and 84 per cent of employment opportunities within the country.
Adebayo called on the Nigerian private sector to fully key into the AfCFTA and lend their support to the work that is been done by the African Business Council.
He appealed to governments to assume the important role of promoting trade development, saying, “for the private sector to succeed, we need entrepreneurial states with governments that would assume regulatory, coordinating and catalytic roles. African governments should be the lead risk takers in terms of investing in large-scale innovations and technology that would drive economic success.
“With governments at the driver’s seat and the Private Sector as the engines, AfCFTA can set Africa on the path towards economic and social transformation, build an Africa of the 21st Century that would take its rightful place in global value chains and create the Africa we want.”
