Protection of national interests has been identified as a major reason for the failure of regional trade agreements in Africa.
And the recently signed Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could be no different unless follow-up mechanisms are set in place to enforce the new policy.
That’s the view of Ziad Hamoui, Ghana-based president of Borderless Alliance, who says that historically Africa has failed repeatedly to enforce implementation of such regional policies.
“Countries come to the table to agree to something, but when it comes to the implementation, we find out that we didn’t embed mechanisms to follow up on it.”
He says the Borderless Alliance has been conducting monitoring exercises on the trade corridors to assess the level of implementation, and that will be intensified in the future.
The role of technology in the implementation of the AfCFTA cannot be overstated, he add.
Hamoui believes the customs of member states should integrate their systems to relieve traders from the complexities associated with free movement of goods.
“Customs interconnectivity is crucial to ensure free flow of cargo that travels across West Africa from the ports of entry to the landlocked countries,” he stated.
Border Alliance is a multilateral partnership of private and public sector stakeholders working to increase trade in West Africa, and eliminate barriers to trade.
