Step up value addition

-To generate prosperity for Africa-Nana Addo

By Daniel NONOR, Peduase-Eastern Region

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on leaders of the African continent to gather synergy around transforming Africa’s vast prospects and resources into productivity that generates prosperity for the continent.

Speaking at the opening of the second edition of the Africa Prosperity Dialogue at the Peduase Lodge yesterday, President Nana Akufo-Addo noted that the African continent is blessed with all the resources needed to transform her into a global powerhouse in the not-too-distant future.

This, he said, can be achieved by channeling energies towards integration by facilitating the free movement of people, goods, and services across the vastly resourceful mass of the African continent.

“We all know that Africa is blessed; Africa is not a poor continent. In fact, she is too rich to be poor. Our continent has every resource imaginable – oil, gas, minerals, and an abundance of sunlight.

“We have some 65% of all arable land available to feed 9 billion people globally by 2050, and our continent also has the most youthful population in the world.

“We have everything we need to transform Africa into a global powerhouse of the future,” stressed.

President Nana Akufo-Addo lamented that despite its vast resources, the continent only commands a paltry 3% of global trade, and intra-Africa trade is one of the lowest in any region globally.

 This is largely due to the colonial economic model characterized by small individual economies, fragmented and disconnected regional markets, over-reliance on the export of primary commodities, and the presence of low productive capacities.

To help unlock the full potential of trade for prosperity, he said the continent needs to prioritize the development of efficient transportation and logistics infrastructure, streamline trade processes, and embrace digital technologies that facilitate cross-border transactions without the need to depend on outside currencies.

He congratulated the organizers of the network for their vision and ability to attract such a formidable lineup of strategic partners, adding that this is a project that requires all the support it needs to succeed.

President Nana Akufo-Addo said the unique feature of the dialogue series is its ability – the platform is dedicated to mobilizing Africa’s energetic private sector to own and drive the fulfillment of the promises that the African Free Trade Area presents.

He said discussions must center on the promotion of sustainable farming practices coupled with targeted investments in the infrastructure for innovation and technology, especially in agribusiness and industry that boost production while ensuring the resilience of the continent’s agricultural sector in the face of global challenges and climate change.

“Without the capacities to industrialize, add value to our raw materials, and invest to build the social, digital, economic, and physical infrastructure that will connect our peoples and businesses to customers across Africa, intra-Africa trade will remain at the negligible lows that it has always been,” he added.

The President further challenged participants at the dialogue to deliberate on actionable plans that transform the lives of the people on the continent.

“Let us embark on a journey that goes beyond rhetoric, transcending dialogues into actionable plans for transformative change.”

Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of The African Free Trade Area Secretariat (AfCFTA), said his outfit remains the precise instrument to deliver on the promise of an Africa that produces what it consumes.

He said the AfCFTA has since recorded some major successes in attaining the realities of intra-African trade, championing trade, and enabling SMEs’ development on the continent.

He said it was time for the continent to dare to invent the future and deploy instruments that enable that future to become a reality.

Mr. Joaquim Alberto Chissano, former President of Mozambique, challenged the private sector and governments in Africa to be deliberate in adding value to natural resources to make the implementation of intra-continental trade attainable.

Mr. Chissano, who is also the Chairperson of the Africa Forum, noted that it was African people who would shape the narrative and ensure a prosperous future on the continent.

He encouraged businesses, investors, and governments to leverage diverse strengths and build systems “that will produce and add value to feed our people and reduce hunger and ensure that every nation in Africa is food secure.”

Mr. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of AfCFTA Secretariat, encouraged the private sector to own the implementation of the free trade pact, saying, “It’s not the government that trades; it’s the private sector that trades.”

He expressed optimism that AfCFTA implementation offered precisely the instrument that would deliver the promise of an Africa that produced what it consumed.

For this reason, the Secretariat, Mr. Mene said, had “developed a private sector strategy, identifying key sectors, which combined, creates a market of $130 billion for investment across value chains.”

He also noted that the Secretariat had developed an AfCFTA tariff book, which enabled the private sector to determine with certainty the tariffs that apply to the products they wanted to export.

The second edition of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues – a platform for discussing issues, forming formidable partnerships, and committing to achieving the “Africa Beyond Aid” agenda envisioned by the African Union (AU) – is underway at Aburi in the Eastern Region.

The three-day event is being attended by some African heads of States and top business, political, thought leaders, and development partners. It is on the theme: “Delivering prosperity in Africa: produce, add value, trade.”

It is being held under the auspices of the African Prosperity Network and the AfCFTA Secretariat.

The summit would feature a retreat among business executives, thought leaders, and senior policies on the continent, a high-level presidential and business executives dialogue, a presidential gala, and the Africa Prosperity Champions Awards.

There would also be the lighting of the Africa Trade Torch – a private sector initiative to champion the realization of AfCFTA among African Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), women, and youth.

Thematic areas for the 2024 Africa Prosperity Dialogues include agriculture and food sovereignty, natural resources and value addition, manufacturing, infrastructure and ICT, finance and investment, and transport and logistics.