Experts have advised African countries to invest in the development of regional value chains to take advantage of the Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. Several sectors need to be considered, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, automotive and many others. Opinion leaders agree that countries need to harmonize their trade policies and invest strategically in industrial development if the AfCFTA is to deliver on its ambitious development promises.
How can the full potential of intra-African trade be realised? For some experts, the only way to get there quickly is to invest in regional and continental value chains and establish reliable supply chain networks. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement highlights a number of sectors of interest to investors.
Working with the African Union, we have identified four priority sectors that will drive the African economy over the next ten to twenty years. These are the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, the automotive sector, transport and logistics, and finally agriculture and agribusiness.
Wamkele MENE, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa has added six more, making a total of ten. These include textiles and clothing, vaccine manufacturing, mobile financial services and cultural and creative industries.
Regional value chains, this concept that we now want to promote among African investors and businessmen, is a process whereby countries in the same transformation sector help each other so that everything can be done on the continent. For example, if Rwanda doesn’t have the machinery to process a certain product, we will do our bit and send the rest to Kenya, and then Kenya can send it to Egypt until we have a finished product ready for export.
Prudence SEBAHIZI, Minister of Trade and Industry
In 2019, Africa imported pharmaceutical products worth 16 billion US dollars, which the AfCFTA secretary regrets, because 16 billion US dollars would have been used to create jobs for thousands of Africans. The same applies to the agricultural sector, where food imports amount to some 60 billion US dollars every year. With this new system, Africa can succeed in reversing the trend, according to the experts.
