As the continent gears up for the upcoming African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the West African nation of Ghana has been earmarked as a key facilitator for trade in the region.
Speaking to delegates at a South Africa-Ghana Trade and Investment seminar in Accra on Monday, Lulu Xingwana, South Africa’s high commissioner to Ghana, said Ghana would play an important role in delivering the goals set out by the AfCFTA.
“Ghana was recognised as the strategic gateway to the West African markets but very soon, it will become the seat of African economic integration as it hosts the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” said Xingwana.
She added that the free trade area would present unparalleled opportunities for investors on the continent.
“You as investors should seize the opportunities, which will be brought by the total population of 1.2 billion people, a combined $2.5 trillion consumer market and an estimated $3 trillion GDP from the continent,” she said.
With Ghana set to become the centre of African economic integration, Xingwana urged local companies not to rest on their laurels, and seize these opportunities as they come.
“We are meeting at an opportune economic time of the African continent, as efforts are gaining momentum in building the ‘Africa we want’, in pursuit of Agenda 2063,” she said. – Bjorn Vorster
