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The director of regional integration and trade of the Economic Commission for Africa (CEPA), Stephen Karingi, told a group of online journalists on May 11, 2020 that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could help African economies to recover from the impact of COVID-19.
“Boosting intra-African trade can serve as an alternative stimulus package for job creation, foreign exchange, industrial development and economic growth,” said Mr. Karingi.
He said that if Africa had implemented agreements and frameworks such as the AfCFTA, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa, the Comprehensive Agricultural Development Program for Africa and the Accelerated Industrial Development plan for Africa, “our economies would have been more diversified, stronger and less affected by COVID19 “.
However, the trade expert noted that “COVID-19 has shown that African countries can adapt and respond to demand.”
He cited, among others, examples from South Africa where U-Mask has redirected its production from protective masks for mining and agriculture to that of medical respiratory masks, and Nigeria, where the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure produced ventilators in Nigeria.
A CEPA report on the impact of COVID-19 in Africa states that between 300,000 and 3.3 million Africans could lose their lives as a direct result of the pandemic.
Therefore, given the urgent need for governments to focus their efforts on protecting lives from COVID-19, the trade start date of July 1, 2020 under the AfCFTA has been moved to at least January 1, 2021.
Mr. Karingi said that such a delay offers an opportunity for creative thinking on how the AfCFTA can be reconfigured to reflect the new realities and risks of the 21st century, and stated that “this is necessary to better position the African economy against future ones. Adverse effects”. shocks emanating from new viruses and climate change, among others. “
He emphasized the need to maintain the AfCFTA momentum and ambition that existed before COVID -19. This, he said, will allow Africa to recover and build long-term resilience.
David Luke, Coordinator of the African Trade Policy Center, reiterated the need for Africa to diversify its supply chain sources, stating that “even developed countries that relied on only one or two countries for critical parts of their supply chain supply are now talking about location. ” production.”
He noted that COVID-19 has shed light on the underdeveloped state of Africa’s supply and value chains and that diversifying the supply chain fits very well into the industrialization agenda that Africa already has.
“We need to think creatively about how our existing development frameworks could adapt to the emerging opportunities created by this crisis,” he stressed.
Mr. Karingi said that COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of digital technologies and that “member states should consider front-loading negotiations on electronic commerce to coincide with the closely linked phase II negotiations of the AfCFTA.”
The webinar was part of a series of virtual press briefings organized by ECA in collaboration with the African Women in Media network to raise awareness of the issues contained in a recently released ECA report entitled “COVID-19 in Africa: Protection of lives and economies “
Mr. Karingi told reporters that they have a responsibility to “always remind our leaders of” continental commitments “so that they do not remain just as treaties on the books, but as agreements signed, ratified and implemented.”
