The Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference (GITFiC) at their sixth annual conference recommended the upscaling of education on the Pan African Payment and settlement systems (PAPSS).
The key players, they suggested would be the PAPSS Council, GITFIC secretariat, WAMI and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat who would target Traders' Unions, Industry players, Exporters, Financial Watchers and Analysts.
In doing so, the stakeholders must identify and seek collaboration with existing mobile money platforms for seamless interoperability and Signatories to AfCFTA must harmonise local financial rules with AfCFTA protocols.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on their action plans to spiral trade and industry and to buttress the activities of the AfCFTA, Mr Selasi Koffi Ackom, Chief Executive Officer of the GITFiC said responsible ministries and government agencies would be harnessed to achieve targets.
On improving financial inclusion of the largely informal sector of African economies, Mr Ackom said it would target at the informal unbanked sector with stakeholders taking major responsibilities to ensure effective implementation.
Speaking on high cost and bureaucratic systems of doing business in many African countries, Mr Ackom called for the creation of an African business regulatory database, which would be accessible to investors and traders and recommended the development of the opening of a, common platform describing all business rules for investors, traders in goods.
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On financial institutions becoming too bureaucratic and becoming a disincentive to access finance, Mr Ackom believed financial institutions and DFIs/multilateral funds needed to offer simplified rules to traders and exporters in accessing credit finance for AfCFTA.
"The proposed action plan contains relevant aspects of the recommendations and action points arising from the 6th Ghana International Trade & Finance Conference - GITFIC Conference. This plan is for the consideration and study by the key stakeholders."
He said in the trade and finance ecosystem within Africa to address some of the key challenges affecting the implementation of the AfCFTA, the GITFIC would continue to engage the key stakeholders to facilitate the execution of the proposed action points.
"We are grateful for your sustained support and commitment to the vision of GITFIC and AfCFTA. We remain the go-to institution for sensitization and education on the AfCFTA and all other trade and finance-related matters affecting Africa's Large, Medium and Small Scale Industries."
