The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has called on politicians, policy makers and trade organisations to become more involved in unfolding developments surrounding the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTFA).
In an interview with FTW Online, IDC chairperson Busi Mabuza said barriers to business between AfCTFA’s 49 signatories could only be successfully dismantled through determined action.
“We need policy makers to come to the party and we need business entities, especially associations, to give feedback.”
More importantly, interaction with the trade organisations was absolutely critical because those are the people who were going to identify where the gaps were, Mabuza said.
She stressed that it was only through integrated industry involvement that invisible gaps in cross-border trade, such as differences in pharmaceutical codes and the like, could be identified.
Speaking on the eve of a Metals and Engineering Indaba hosted at the IDC’s conference centre in Sandton, Mabuza urged businesses and traders eager to benefit from barrier relaxation between AfCTFA-members to step up their involvement.
As such Mabuza emphasised the importance of cultural integration, arguing that it was inadvisable to look for opportunity in another country from one’s own side of the fence.
“You need to get feet on the ground,” was her advice to potential investors.
As for the IDC’s own involvement, Mabuza said the corporation had the enthusiasm and expertise to share with government ideas about improving supply chains across the SADC region and further north into the continent.
She said one way to access possible markets and reduce delays in the manufacturing of goods was to reach out to local suppliers.
Ultimately trade relaxation across SADC and beyond will only work through “a problem-solving approach from all stake-holders”, Mabuza stressed.
See the full interview with the IDC’s Busi Mabuza here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFtENuIOULQ&feature=youtu.be