‘Free movement of Africans across the continent is vital to drive AfCFTA’s goals’

The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Prof. Benedict Oramah, has canvassed free movement of Africans across the continent in order to actualise the lofty goals of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

Oramah who said this in Lagos at the Eighth Biennial Lecture of the Goddy Jidenma Foundation to honour the memory of Goddy Jidenma, a leading Nigerian architect who died in 2006, noted that (AfCFTA) provided an opportunity for Africa to take its destiny into its own hands by opening regional supply chains that would foster economic growth and development. He spoke on “The Trade Route to Poverty Reduction in Africa in a De-globalising World.”

Citing estimates by the World Bank, he said that the AfCFTA would lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty and boost the incomes of nearly 68 million others who live on less than $5.50 a day; boost Africa’s income by seven per cent to $450 billion by 2035; increase Africa’s exports by $560 billion, mostly in manufacturing; spur a 10.5-per cent wage gain for women and 9.9-per cent for men; and boost wages for both skilled and unskilled workers.

The Afreximbank President, who revealed that 54 countries had signed the Agreement, and 47 had ratified it, announced that Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat had established an AfCFTA Adjustment Fund to provide compensation to eligible countries for tariff revenue losses as a result of the implementation of the AfCFTA. The adjustment fund will also provide funding to countries and businesses to enable them to adjust in an orderly manner to the new trading regime. “The world economy had changed significantly in recent years and had become more fractured and fragmented while the core pillars that supported global growth and poverty reduction had almost been dismantled. Africa’s economic progress depends on its response to unprecedented de-globalisation. How Africa and the rest of the developing world manoeuvre the emerging challenges presented by the unprecedented de-globalisation of the world could potentially make or mar their economic progress in the years ahead. Indeed, the world is de-globalising at an unprecedented pace, and the implications for developing countries could be dire.”

To address the impediment posed by lack of access to trade and investment information, Oramah said Afreximbank was offering an artificial intelligence-enabled trade information platform under the brand name Tradar Intelligence. For the same reason, the Bank was collaborating with the African Union Commission (AUC), the AfCFTA Secretariat and others to host the biennial Intra-African Trade Fair whose first three editions held since 2018 attracted over 70,000 visitors, 4,000 exhibitors and about $120 billion.

Furthermore, as a solution to the 42 fragmented payment systems across Africa, Afreximbank, in partnership with the AUC and the AfCFTA Secretariat, had launched the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which domesticates all intra-African trade payments. Afreximbank was supporting that system with a $3-billion settlement fund. By May 2024, an African currency trading platform would also be launched under the auspices of PAPSS.

Oramah said: “It is now becoming possible for a small farmer in Malawi to use his cell phone to purchase a Nollywood streaming movie and to pay in the Malawian Kwacha while the seller in Nigeria receives Naira. “We are nearing the stage when an Egyptian can buy shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, paying in Egyptian Pounds. It was also necessary to aggressively fill the intra-African trade financing gap, estimated at over $50 billion annually. Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade Division disbursed over $40 billion since 2016, with about $11 billion outstanding, accounting for about 28 per cent of the Bank’s loan portfolio.”

Other speakers at the event include Prof. Ali Mazrui, an internationally celebrated African political scientist, Prof. Elaigwu, President of the Institute of Governance and Social Research, Jos, Nigeria, Prof. Pat Utomi, Founder and CEO of the Center for Values in Leadership, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, a former Nigerian presidential candidate, Prof. P.L.O. Lumumba, a notable Pan-Africanist, and Prof. Attahiru Jega, a former Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission.