An industrial policy aimed at strengthening African nations’ capacity in designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating appropriate strategies to facilitate the structural transformation of the continent’s economies is key, as preparation for the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) commences, experts have said.
According to the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), the need to green Africa’s industrialization as a way of achieving sustainable and inclusive growth remains a major challenge that should be addressed.
IDEP Director, Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, said more needs to be done to empower senior civil servants working on policies that impact Africa’s socio-economic development “Industrial policies, she said, should not only consider local issues but also regional value chains and cross-border cooperation, among others”, she added.She spoke about the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) which is expected to be in place by October 2017, bringing together 54 African countries with a combined population of more than one billion people and a combined gross domestic product of more than US $3.4 trillion.
With the CFTA, African leaders aim to, among other things, create a single continental market for goods and services, free movement of business persons and investments and expand intra-African trade. The CFTA is also expected to enhance competitiveness at the industry and enterprise levels.
“Our philosophy of development should be revamped as we yearn for competitiveness at the industry and enterprise levels,” said Ms. Soltane, adding the diversity of participants attending the course had enriched discussions on Africa’s industrial policies.
Source: http://guardian.ng/business-services/industry/how-africa-can-deploy-cfta-in-removing-trade-barriers/
No comments:
Post a Comment