Young people unaware of AfCFTA opportunities: Nandi-Ndaitwah

There is a need to invest more in awareness campaigns regarding opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as young people do not understand it.

This is according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who participated in the 11th Dr Theo-Ben Gurirab Lecture Series, virtually held on Friday under the theme: ‘How can young entrepreneurs diversify their

business models to reach new markets through the AfCFTA’.

“In general, if you ask most young people how they intend to take up export opportunities presented by AfCFTA, you will note that the recurring answer will be, ‘what is AfCFTA?’ Most of the youth across the continent don’t understand what this is, let alone where the starting point is, for them to benefit from the agreement,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said. AfCFTA is one of the flagship projects of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 aimed at boosting intra-African trade by eliminating tariffs on most goods, liberalising the trade of services and addressing obstacles to trade between African countries.

The agreement will present opportunities for inter-African trade which Namibia can tap into. According to the World Bank, the successful implementation of AfCFTA has the potential of lifting nearly 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty and raising the incomes for 68 million people, the majority of whom will be women and youth.

Nandi-Ndaitwah highlighted that sharing information among youth entrepreneurs, networking, research, innovation and being proactive are some of the immediate and critical steps young entrepreneurs need to take in order to diversify their businesses to reach new markets through the AfCFTA.

“To boost intra-Africa trade, African governments need to invest heavily in skills training. Africa needs to close the widening gap of food imports. Youth entrepreneurship could with the requisite skills, finance and support, adopt new climate-friendly cultivation and processing methods to address this critical issue,” she said, adding that government has taken steps to promote youth entrepreneurship and will continue to ensure a conducive environment for SMEs to grow and expand.

The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, through its active economic diplomacy will continue to facilitate trade missions and assist Namibian businesses to take full advantage of the AfCFTA, she added.