During the World Trade Center Accra (WTCA) General Assembly in Ghana, the director of WTCA, Edem Kofi Yevutsey, encouraged the Philippines to create trade relations with Africa to improve its economy.
Africa’s key Asian trading partners currently include China, Singapore, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
“Potential sectors for investment in Africa include agriculture, agro-tech, food processing, manufacturing, mining, power and energy, and information and communications technology, among others,” said Yevutsey.
This proposal will be supported by the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), which aims to facilitate cross-border trade and investments between African and Asian countries, to strengthen its position in the global market and expand African exports.
"The overall mandate of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market that represents a GDP (gross domestic product) of $12.7 trillion.
Macro trends in four key sectors — automotive, agriculture and agro-processing; pharmaceuticals and transport and logistics — and across Africa's growth potential as a whole reveal tremendous opportunities for business expansion as the population, income, and connectivity are on the rise," said Yevutsey.
Last month, the Philippines Department of Agriculture’s senior undersecretary, Domingo Panganiban, and the South African ambassador to the Philippines, Bartinah Ntombizondwa Rabede-Netshitenzhe, discussed the two countries' potential areas for agricultural collaboration and finalized a memorandum of understanding.
They also discussed the potential for the Philippines to export tuna, sardines, coconut oil, mangoes, bananas, and other tropical fruits to South Africa.
