Take advantage of AfCFTA
The Executive Chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), organisers of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has called on Ghanaian businesses to, as a matter of priority, begin positioning themselves to take advantage of all the opportunities that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers.
Addressing leading corporate executives, including CEOs of all the major banks, heads of institutions, Members of Parliament and members of the international community at a partners’ cocktail, ahead of the 2024 edition of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD), Mr Otchere-Darko said, Ghana, by virtue of hosting the AfCFTA Secretariat, is positioned as the “commercial centre” of the continent and businesses in the country must leverage all that.
He encouraged businesses to begin seeing their economic catchment area as continentwide rather than just national.
"We are building an integrated African economy. The political leaders have given us a framework. But, it is not the politicians who will do it, it is the private sector operating on this continent that will make it happen," Gabby Otchere-Darko stressed.
The APD 2024 will take place from 25th to 27th January 2024 at the Peduase Presidential Lodge, Aburi Hills, in the Eastern Region of Ghana and will be hosted by the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo.
AfCFTA, APD partnership
The AfCFTA Secretariat is a core partner of the annual Africa Prosperity Dialogues.
The Chief of Staff at the AfCFTA Secretariat, Silver Ojakol, in a supporting statement on behalf of Wamkele Mene, the Secretary General of AfCFTA, described the AfCFTA Secretariat’s partnership with APN as a strategic one that will go a long way to influencing the ability of the AfCFTA to deliver on the much-needed project of building the world’s largest single market in Africa.
“The theme for next year is: ‘Delivering Prosperity in Africa: Produce, Add Value, Trade.’ It is very much aligned with the pillars that we [at AfCFTA] have developed from the policy perspective,” he said.
“The pillars of regional value chain development, value addition, increased production on the continent in order that we can trade more with each other, and the pillar of trading, even trading across our borders are all the focus.
“The AfCFTA Secretariat is very much committed to ensuring that this process moves forward and delivers prosperity for the continent and we are very happy to be partners for the Africa Prosperity Dialogues,” Silver Ojakol said.
Harvesting ideas
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in a brief statement, urged the huge representation of the business community at the cocktail to look out for and take full advantage of the many brilliant ideas that will be shared at the 2024 APD and endeavour to implement them for the benefit of the continent.
APD
The first edition of the APD in January 2023 resulted in the unanimous adoption of the Action Compact by the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Union in February 2023. This groundbreaking initiative forged a crucial partnership between the continent's private sector and the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Themed 'The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): From Ambition to Action, Delivering Prosperity through Continental Trade,' the APD 2023 aligned with the AU Summit's overarching theme.
Building on the success of APD 2023, APD 2024 will offer an invaluable opportunity to engage private and public sectors, develop finance institutions, influential thought leaders, civil societies, and youth organisations, all in the process of syncing Ghana's economic priorities.
The dialogues will also showcase flagship projects and initiatives that are both scalable and replicable and are ready for financing and implementation with the objective of significantly enhancing trade and investment among African nations.
This will be done by focusing more on adding value to what is produced and also on how best to facilitate trade and investment across African markets and beyond.
The dialogues will bring into focus the continent’s critical challenges and priorities, with a key focus on bolstering value addition and infrastructural development, championing agriculture and food security, sustainable development of natural resources, and industrialisation.
Technology and financing play an essential role in Africa’s prosperity narrative.
The strategic objectives of APD 2024, under the theme 'Delivering Prosperity in Africa – Produce, Add Value, Trade', are fourfold.
First is, “to facilitate a comprehensive dialogue that brings together key stakeholders from government, business, civil society, and academia to discuss and develop inclusive and realistic strategies for delivering prosperity in Africa.
The second objective is, “to promote and strengthen regional and continental integration, particularly in the context of the AU Agenda 2063, and as a means to foster intra-Africa trade, economic growth, and prosperity.
The third objective is “to prioritise the inclusion of marginalised populations, women, and youth in Africa's development agenda and ensure that prosperity is truly inclusive", and lastly, “to provide a platform for sharing best practices, lessons learned, and innovative solutions that can be replicated across the continent”.
Partners
The 2024 edition of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) is being organised by Africa Prosperity Network (APN) in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, which is situated in Accra, Ghana.
The other partners are the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Africa, Africa Development Bank (AfDB), African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), United Nations Economic Forum for Africa (UNECA), Africa Business Council (AfBC), Africa America Institute (AAI), Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), Africa Soft Power and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).
Ghana and Germany have concluded bilateral negotiations, agreeing on €145.9million (US$158million) in aid focused on climate and energy, good governance and sustainable economic development.
The new aid package was finalised in Berlin this week, during high-level talks between Ghanaian and German officials held in the G20 Compact with Africa conference.
The delegation was in Berlin to participate in the 2023 G20 Compact with Africa conference, as well as complete annual bilateral negotiations with the Federal Republic of Germany. The Finance Minister also took the opportunity to engage IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Ghana’s IMF programme, during the Working Lunch of Africa Finance Ministers and representatives of international institutions on the margins of the G20 Compact with Africa Conference in Berlin.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta lauded the agreement, saying Germany’s expertise in renewable energy technologies can help support Ghana’s efforts to expand its renewable energy capacity.
“Ghana is committed to transitioning to a more sustainable energy future. We have made considerable strides in harnessing renewable energy sources, such as solar,” Mr. Ofori-Atta said.
“Germany, with its expertise in renewable energy technologies, can play a pivotal role in supporting Ghana’s efforts to expand its renewable energy capacity.”
President Nana Akufo-Addo recently announced plans to develop 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity through solar and wind projects.
The minister said Ghana welcomes more partnerships with Germany in the renewable energy sector, including joint initiatives and technology transfers to improve efficiency and competitiveness.
“Improving energy efficiency is a shared goal. Germany’s renowned engineering and innovation can contribute significantly to enhancing energy efficiency in Ghana’s industries and infrastructure,” he said. “Through joint initiatives and technology transfers, we can reduce energy wastage and enhance the competitiveness of our businesses.”
Mr. Ofori-Atta also emphasised the urgency of addressing climate change through emission reductions and other green initiatives.
“Recognising the urgency of addressing climate change and our relations within this space, we seek stronger collaboration on initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, protect natural resources and advance green technologies,” he said. “In light of Ghana’s vulnerability to climate-related challenges, especially extreme weather events, partnering with Germany on climate resilient projects and disaster preparedness is crucial.”
The German aid package also aims to promote good governance, sustainable economic development and public-private partnerships in Ghana.
Mr. Ofori-Atta encouraged German companies to explore investment opportunities across sectors like education, technology and manufacturing. He reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to an attractive investment climate and transparent regulations.
“I wish to take this opportunity to encourage German businesses to further explore investment opportunities in Ghana,” Ofori-Atta said, citing German automaker Volkswagen’s new vehicle assembly plant in Ghana. “We recognise the crucial role of public-private partnerships which can drive innovation, create jobs and boost economic growth.”
At a recent meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo emphasised the importance of cooperation on energy, technical education, climate resilience and sustainable growth.
Anew tool created by consumer organisations has highlighted the risk of unfair food prices in Ghana, driven by insufficient competition in national and global food supply chains.
The Fair Food Price Monitor warns how rising prices for Ghanaian consumers are potentially being caused not only by factors such as increased fuel costs and currency depreciation, but also dominant market actors taking advantage of this crisis to increase prices excessively.
The tool – developed by Consumers International (representing consumers across the world) and Ghanaian organisation Consumer Advocacy Centre (based in Laweh University College) – uses data from sources such as the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to track the relationship between food prices at different stages of the supply chain in Ghana, and to highlight where investigation and action may be needed from government.
Growing evidence of unfair prices
Key outcomes from the first analysis using the Fair Food Price Monitor have shown that for several important food items, retail/consumer prices have risen substantially faster than wholesale/market prices. For example, between January 2022 and July 2023:
• The retail price of onions increased by 4 percent, while the wholesale price rose by just 18.1 percent in the same period.
• The retail price of gari grew by 77 percent, compared to a 63 percent rise in wholesale prices and an increase of just 4 percent in the wholesale price of cassava, gari’s basic ingredient.
• The retail price of sorghum increased by 9 percent, while the wholesale price increased by 100.6 percent.
This shows that while costs are increasing for all market actors, consumers are bearing an unfair and excessive burden. The Fair Food Price Monitor explores several potential explanations for this divergence in retail and wholesale prices – such as rising fuel costs and a weakening exchange rate – but finds that while these factors may have contributed, they do not appear to be sufficient explanation for the excessive rise in retail prices.
When the cost of producing and importing food increases, it is inevitable that consumers will have to pay higher prices.
However, in a competitive national market it is expected that profit margins will also decrease slightly, as the burden is shared between food producers, traders, retailers and consumers. If the margin between retail and wholesale prices remains consistent (or even increases) in times of crisis, this is a sign that stronger competition will result in fairer prices for consumers.
The causes of unfair food prices
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Global Food Price Index, global food commodity prices have been consistently decreasing since March 2022; yet consumers worldwide are still facing food price rises.
According to Ghana Statistical Services, monthly food price inflation hit a 22-year high of 61 percent in January 2023.
The causes of rising food prices are complex – disruptions to international trade caused by climate crisis, conflict and COVID-19 all play a part – but many global experts have warned that food prices are rising excessively and unfairly. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) noted in their 2023 Trade and Development Report that: “In the context of cascading crises, there is a stark contrast between growing risks to the food security of millions and profiteering by corporations”.
What solutions are needed?
Consumer organisations recommend a range of actions that government can take to tackle this threat of unfair food prices. In particular, it is highlighted that Ghana is one of the few countries in the world without a competition law or a dedicated competition authority to tackle unfair or anti-competitive pricing practices, such as price gouging and price fixing. Addressing this shortcoming must be an urgent priority.
Once this is achieved, there is a need for improved data on the price of food products at different stages of the supply chain to identify cases of unfair pricing; and action is needed to strengthen competition in the marketplace, by tackling monopolies and supporting small and medium businesses.