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Ghana has been ranked as the fifth country most committed to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by the defense and policy expert group, AfroChampions.
But Ghana was not in the top 10 for readiness for deployment, according to the group’s AfCFTA Year Zero report.
In the combined Commitment and Readiness for Implementation ranking, Ghana was in sixth place.
The report noted that some of the most committed countries, such as Ghana, Mali, Togo and Uganda “are not necessarily the best prepared in terms of commercial infrastructure, customs efficiency and access to credit for the industry.”
“On the contrary, some of the least committed countries (such as Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania) performed well in terms of readiness for implementation,” the report added.
The country most committed to AfCFTA is Rwanda, which scores 83.93 percent on the engagement scale, and the least committed country is Eritrea with a score of 0.85 percent.
The country with the best readiness for implementation is South Africa, with a score of 68 percent.
In the combined ranking of Commitment and Readiness for Implementation, Rwanda emerged at the top of the table.
The report also noted that none of the three largest economies on the continent; South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria rank among the top ten overall results in the country.
“Of the three, Nigeria remains a special case. The Lagos Action Plan in 1980 and the Abuja Treaty of 1991 already give the impression that Nigeria has been an important country and a player on the road to continental unity. Therefore, it is intriguing to see Nigeria still in the signing phase of the Agreement, ”he explained.
Overall, the overall average percentage score for AU member states relative to their level of commitment to the AfCFTA is 44.48 percent.
The overall average score of readiness for implementation is 49.15 percent.
“This indicates that the continent as a whole has less than 50% commitment and less than 50% readiness for the implementation of the AfCFTA.”
The report further noted that “virtually all countries are falling behind in finalizing national AfCFTA implementation strategies.”
This evaluation was completed before the new coronavirus pandemic.
The expert group now warns that the pandemic threatens to derail the AfCFTA, adding that “the continent must go ahead and use the AfCFTA as one of the weapons to defeat COVID-19 and accelerate the post-COVID economic recovery.”
— citinewsroom
