AfCFTA – Africa’s hope for shared prosperity for all

The year 2022 is the Eve of the Diamond Jubilee for the Organisation of African Unity ( OAU), which was established some 59 years ago on May 25.

Now as we celebrate this amazing cooperation and unity of fellow African nations let us zoom into our

on our wealth.

Think of minerals, we have them in abundance; talk of vegetation and the wealth of our genetic resources; there is all that you can think of, not forgetting the beautiful creatures which are the backbone of African tourism. We were weaned from European rule barely three years after the OAU was formed

and impact of African unity in our development to date. Our journey as the Continent from 1963 is quite commendable, we have been able to build legacies in our own individual nations, preserving our cultures, empowering our people, building our economies and progressing well with global revolutionary trends like advancing in technology systems. One of the biggest achievements Africa has ever made is the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement ( AfCFTA) which presents an opportunity to accelerate intra- African trade and boost Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations. of goods by lowering transit time and the cost of trading; achieve a larger market with a single economic space; and address the challenges of multiple memberships, which make deeper integration - bitious accord in 2019 but we are yet to ratify owing to the level of readiness of our entrepreneurs and some sticky policy issues that still need to be thrashed out such as the Rules of Origin, for example. Through this period of our preparation let us consider the time factor; wouldn’t this delay affect our competitiveness among other nations across the continent?

The Agreement entered into force on the 30th of May 2019. As a signatory, this means that qualifying goods originating from Botswana and destined for members of the

African Union ( AU) – the successor organisation of the OAU - are subjected to lower tariff rates into the continental market.

We are the leading exporter of diamonds and beef to Europe and Asia but the least exporter to fellow African nations. These export markets are only accessible by government but we have private entrepreneurs who could be participating and boosting Botswana’s export commodities through the AfCFTA market. The commencement of trading under the AfCFTA began on 1st of January 2021 however, no trade has as yet taken place under the AfCFTA regime. As at May 2022, 43 of the 54 signatories ( 80 percent) have deposited their instruments of AfCFTA

Botswana to accelerate her pace and be counted among the leading African economies. We can achieve this by utilising our competitive attributes, which include our natural resources, human capital and geographical position in the centre of the Southern African region.

As we celebrate Africa Month and of May, let us rekindle the spirit of independence, self- reliance and belief in our people. Indeed we can grow our own food, produce our own medicines and drugs, draw our own curricular and promulgate our own laws – for God’s sake, we can also pray to our own God, just as Marcus Garvey predicted, ‘ Africa for the Africans – at home and abroad – One God, One People, One Destiny!’