Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has raised concern over the low level of intra-African trade in the African continent.
He said the Intra-Africa trade accounted for 15 percent of Africa’s total trade in 2018 and 2019. Speaking with journalists on the sideline of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) organized by Afreximbank in Durban, South Africa, he said the share of intra-African trade in Africa’s total trade had remained low over the past decade compared to 65 percent recorded in Europe.
The low manufacturing and processing capacity has been described as one of the factors inhibiting the flow of trade among African countries. Intra-African trade in manufacturing declined from 18 percent in 2005 to about 15 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to a report by the African Development Bank Group.
Nigeria’s former president called for the removal of barriers and disincentives to African trade growth and the establishment of a certification center to enhance the standard of export products within the region.
Obasanjo, who doubles as the chairman of, IATF advisory council believes that Africa’s total trade could increase by more than 65 percent in the near future if the continent can take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
According to him, AfCFTA aspires to connect all the regions of Africa, deepen economic integration, and boost intra-African trade and investment.
He said the ACFTA also provides an opportunity for the continent to achieve economic emancipation and self-reliance through the creation of a single market of as much as 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion across 55 countries.
“Trade is the blood of economic growth, development, and progress. We need to know how to do this particularly for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and we need to be persistent and consistent.
“We need to address all the things that could give us drawbacks, and establish a certification center so that we can say our products are of standard whenever we are exporting within the region.”
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However, realizing the importance and beneficial impact in driving dramatic trade growth and investment across Africa, seven African Heads of States graced the opening ceremony of the 2021 IATF.
They included Cyril Ramaphosa, (South Africa); Muhammadu Buhari, (Nigeria); Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairman of the Advisory Council of IATF; Hakainde Hichilema, (Zambia); Lazarus Chakwera, (Malawi); and Emmerson Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe). Others were Hussein Mwinyi representing Samia Suluhu Hassan, (Tanzania); and Edouard Ngirente, (Rwanda Prime Minister), who attended the event representing H.E. Paul Kagame.
“Today is a great day for Africa as we start our collaborative journey towards collective economic prosperity. We cannot achieve this goal by talking alone. The implementation, the difficult journey, and the challenges are surmountable if both public and private sectors collaborate. On the public sector side, governments must support local entrepreneurs to build scale, and therefore improve productivity.” He added that “the African Continental Free Trade Area must make the effort to ensure that Africa must be a marketplace where no country is left behind, we must ensure that we create jobs and enhance revenues for all parties,” Buhari said.
