Africa must stop exporting raw materials and instead focus on adding value to its natural resources if it is to fully harness the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, Patience Okala, said this on Thursday at the Streamsowers & Köhn 20th Anniversary Business Forum, where she stressed that value addition and beneficiation are essential to Africa’s industrialisation and long-term economic growth.
According to a statement issued on Friday by the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, she said the AfCFTA goes beyond the elimination of tariffs, serving as a framework for industrialisation, value addition, and job creation across the continent.
“AfCFTA is not only about tariffs; it is also about value addition. Africa has to stop exporting raw materials. We need to add value and ensure that beneficiation is done on the continent,” she said.
Okala also said Africa’s economic transformation would depend on the effective implementation of the AfCFTA rather than on the signing of trade agreements alone. Related News Local paint makers eye bigger stake in $2.6bn market Tie borrowing to infrastructure projects, don tells FG Low milk output fuels $1.5bn dairy import bill — MAN
