Dakar Forum Spotlights Private Sector As Crucial for Afcfta

24 June 2019
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United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Addis Ababa)

Dakar — A two-day Regional Trade forum to examine the tangible implications of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for West and Central Africa kicked off on Monday 24 June in Dakar, Senegal, under the of President Macky Sall.

In his remarks to officially open the forum, President Sall reaffirmed his commitment "to support the Senegalese private sector in the quest for new areas of business opportunities" and urged the sector to "take ownership of all components of the AfCFTA."

He cautioned that Africans will not reap the benefits of the AfCFTA without building regional or subregional champions, stating "The quality of our industry is such that if we want the AfCFTA to fully benefit Africa, we need to build these African champions. In that context, SMEs will receive special attention"

The forum comes only a few weeks after the AfCFTA entered into force on May 30, 2019, and serves as a platform for policymakers, economic actors, civil society organizations and research institutes to identify the main lessons learned from subregional integration efforts and assess the extent to which Regional Economic Communities, such as ECOWAS and ECCAS, can serve as a basis for unlocking the trade potential of the AfCFTA in West and Central Africa.

Mauritania's Prime Minister, Mohamed Salem Ould Bechir, underlined his country's efforts to create an enabling environment for the private sector and cautioned that the AfCFTA alone will not solve the issue of intra-African trade.

"We must, therefore, put in place the necessary policies to develop our industrial capacities while diversifying the productive base of our economies, he said. "Those diversification policies are a necessity for more complementarity and exchanges within the continent."

Stimulating intra-African trade is one of the main objectives of the AfCFTA, which paves the way for the creation of a continental customs union, thus removing non-tariff and tariff barriers to trade in goods and services.

Covering a dynamic market of 1.2 billion people and a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.5 trillion, the AfCFTA can be a game-changer for the private sector in the sub-region in terms of export, diversification, structural transformation and job creation.

For his part, Algeria's Minister of Trade, Said Djellab highlighted that "The only way for our countries to achieve integration on the basis of competitiveness is by investing in research and development and boosting economic complexity, product competitiveness, and value addition."

Its effective implementation in West and Central Africa first requires, however, to analyze its institutional, economic and technical fundamentals in the light of the strengths and challenges specific to these regions, particularly in the agricultural, mining or energy sectors. These regional peculiarities must be assessed in a manner that takes into account key stakeholders's expectations, including the private sector and civil society.

Its effective implementation in West and Central Africa requires an analysis of the institutional, economic and technical fundamentals in the light of the strengths and challenges specific to these regions, particularly in the agricultural, mining or energy sectors. These regional peculiarities must be assessed in a manner that takes into account key stakeholders' expectations, including the private sector and civil society.

Against this backdrop, Vera Songwe , Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Vera Songwe urged stakeholders to strengthen African value chains across the continent, deploring the fact that Africa's cotton, for example, is processed in Asia and re-exported to the continent. Consequently, jobs and added value are not created in Africa.

With particular emphasis on the challenges of women and youth entrepreneurship and the role of civil society and development partners, the forum stressed the importance of ensuring effective implementation of the AfCFTA in terms that benefit everyone.

The forum took place under the theme "AfCFTA in motion: Taking Africa's integration to the next level for a prosperous continent." It was organized jointly by ECA, the government of Senegal and the African Union Commission with support from the European Union. It is part of a capacity-building programme initiated by ECA to support African governments, at their request, in the formulation of national strategies to implement the AfCFTA.

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Communications Section

Economic Commission for Africa

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Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)

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E-mail address: eca-info@un.org

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