African Market is Big Enough for African Businesses —Muchanga
The Commissioner for Trade and Industry at the African Union Commission, Dr Albert Muchanga has said that African market is big enough for businesses in the continent if properly harnessed. Dr. Muchanga made this known while speaking with representatives of the African Manufacturers Association and Afro Champions comprising Mansur Ahmed, President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Executive Director, Dangote Industries Limited and Edem Adzogenu of the Afro Champions. If African businesses pay more attention to the continental market, churning out top quality goods, the fear being exercised in some quarters that the common market would open doors for foreign goods to crowd out locally produced goods would turn out to be unfounded.
What is more, Muchanga says the African Union Commission has put in place the rules of origin to avert a situation where some people would come with items in a container and just label them Made-in-Africa. “We are not going to tolerate that. With the regime of the rules of origin, there is going to be a very strict monitoring mechanism to ensure that goods traded under the AfCFTA are indeed produced in Africa. The ministers of trade have agreed to that and it is going to the Committee of the Heads of State and Government for endorsement,” Muchanga explains.
The African Union Commission is also working to carry along African countries’ chambers of commerce and industry and the manufacturing associations for effective implementation of the AfCFTA. According to Muchanga, “there will be similar replication of the national manufacturers’ association at the continental level so that we can address all these concerns which are cross- border in nature that impacts on manufacturing. The association is going to be established as soon as possible.”
Indeed, Muchanga says the Heads of State and Government have shown tremendous political will in fostering birth of the AfCFTA. “Today we have 13 ratification and we need 22 for the agreement to be ratified. So, we are short of nine. Our survey showed that close to 12 countries are on the verge of ratifying the agreement. On the average, it has been taking five years for a legal instrument under the AU to enter into force. But this is going to be realized within a year or less. That is a reflection of the commitment that we have.”
Mansur Ahmed, President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, believes “that until we scale up our manufacturing capacity, value addition is going to remain low…. I do not see any problem with the manufacturers’ association working together to actualize the common objective for effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.