AfCFTA: ‘Every member must come on board’- President

Prosper Ndlovu recently in Niamey, Niger

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has implored all regional member states to rally behind and fully embrace the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement saying the successful economic transformation of the continent is hinged on regional integration.

In an interview with the media at the end of closed-door meetings on the regional economy during the African Union (AU) Extraordinary Summit on Industrialisation and Economic Transformation, which ended in Niamey, Niger on Friday, the President said it was high time that regional integration be mainstreamed in domestic policy formulation.

Zimbabwe is one of the champions in embracing the historic AfCFTA Agreement, which came into force in January last year and recently the country submitted its tariff offer to the secretariat, paving way for its full participation. The AfCFTA seeks to create the single-largest integrated market of about 1.2 billion from the 54 African states to maximize economic gains through higher intra-regional trade anchored on robust industrialisation along critical value chains.

President Mnangagwa, who earlier attended the official opening session and briefly engaged with peers from across Africa, said the full success of the AfCFTA demands collective participation.

“The regional integration methodology is based on the member states coming on board on the Africa Free Trade Area. The guiding rules are that every member is expected to qualify and is being assisted to qualify.

So, a conference like this one makes every member state to know how much they need to do in order to be on stream in terms of industrialisation because we have all as a continent adopted a philosophy that ‘no country or community must be left behind’. We must embrace each other and move forward in our desire to industrialise Africa.”

As Zimbabwe is pursuing Vision 2030 targets, President Mnangagwa said the country was mindful of the regional integration nexus hence it has modelled its policy framework along the broader regional and global sustainable development ideals. The President said this was critical in order to make sure the country is not left behind other progressive nations.

“Almost every country now has two levels of visions and the majority have vision 2030 while others feel they must have a vision longer than 2030. But what is critically important for all member states is to try to match in terms of their pace of development with the rest of the African continent,” he said.

President Mnangagwa revealed that as part of efforts to rope in all member states towards regional integration, a model that identifies “champions” in key economic sectors has been put on board to ensure countries contribute to the regional economy in line with their areas of comparative and competitive advantage.

“We have champions for agriculture, champions for infrastructure development and champions for energy. For instance, some are champions in terms of air transport. So, these champion member states would develop the roadmap in those areas.

So, it will be easier for member states to come on board because there is a champion who spends time interrogating the methodology of achieving progress and modernisation in the particular sector as the champion in the African continent.”

The President then challenged youths to be on the forefront on economic transformation as champions for the future. He said the Government has already set the tone through adoption of the heritage-based “Education 5.0 philosophy”, where science, technology and innovation must be the driving force in Zimbabwe’s re-industrialisation.

On this intervention, the President said he was pleased that the country is already a step ahead of its peers in the region as it has started enjoying the fruits of positive outcomes from the country’s innovation hubs.

“I was watching and realized that we are one step ahead of other nations but here we are saying it is necessary that all Africa states must embrace science and technology for purposes of industrialisation. I had some heads of states who discussed with me during lunch trying to find out what is it when we say our education philosophy is 5.0 and so, I was busy explaining that.”

In transforming the regional economy, President Mnangagwa also stressed the importance on harnessing vast opportunities through tapping into Intellectual Property Rights. He indicated there is already ongoing debate on those issues at the ministerial level, which are expected to continue in February next year, where the subject will be brought before the full attention of Heads of States and Government.

Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa, who left the country on Thursday night, arrived back home yesterday morning and was welcomed at the Robert Mugabe International Airport at 6am by Vice-President Dr Constantino Chiwenga, Home Affairs Minister, Kazembe Kazembe, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, service chiefs and senior Government officials.

This year’s Summit was held under the theme: “Industrialising Africa: Renewed Commitment Towards an Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialisation and Economic Diversification”, and drew a diversity of stakeholder participants from across the region. It was part of the Africa Industrialisation Week (AIW — 20-25 November 2022), annual commemorative activities aimed at highlighting Africa’s renewed determination and commitment to regional industrialisation.