AFRICA DAY – NCOP reflects on economic development, peace and stability in Africa
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) commemorated Africa Day by hosting a lecture on the theme Pioneering Africa’s Inclusive Economic Recovery and Free Trade: Levers to building the Africa we want. Sakhile Mokoena reports.
Africa Day is marked on 25 May each year across the African continent to celebrate the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), predecessor to the African Union (AU). On 25 May 1963, the OAU was formed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 countries. More countries joined over time, with South Africa becoming the 53rd member in May 1994, after the end of apartheid. In 2002 in Durban, the organisation was remodelled and renamed the AU. Africa Day is also an opportunity to reflect on the continent’s socio-economic development and its efforts to find peace and stability.
The NCOP lecture’s main focus was the recently enacted African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, an economic integration agenda for the continent, which seeks to promote intra-Africa trading and investment among African countries.
Delivering opening remarks at the virtual lecture, the Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP Ms Sylvia Lucas said thanks to the AfCFTA, the African continent is finally on a growth trajectory and unified under a common purpose to collectively reverse the legacy of Europe’s scramble for Africa’s wealth.
“If effectively implemented, the agreement will promote and advance the attainment of sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development across the continent. It will also serve as a conduit for advancing gender equality and enable the structural transformation of state parties,” said Ms Lucas. She added that this cutting- edge agreement should be recognised as the largest trade agreement since the World Trade Agreement in 1994.
The Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Development, Mr Fikile Majola, delivered the keynote address at the lecture. He told the session that Africa Day is an opportunity to reflect on shared commitments towards the renewal of the African continent for the benefit of all her peoples. “The theme for today’s event instructs us to move with speed towards building a strong foundation for Africa’s inclusive growth. And the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement further provides us with the platform to advance this objective,” he said.
Mr Majola believes the ratifying of the AfCFTA agreement by 54 out of the 55 African countries is a major achievement, which will connect about 1,3 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of US$3,4 trillion.
The promotion of intra-Africa trade is a fundamental factor for sustainable economic development, employment generation and integration of Africa into global economy. “This economic flagship seeks to address the challenges of Africa’s low levels of participation in the global economy and world trade, which stands at 3 %, despite the fact that Africa accounts for approximately 16 % of the world’s population,” Mr Majola said.
AfCFTA brings the continent closer to realising the vision of an integrated market and creating a basis for increasing intra-Africa trade. However, Mr Majola warned that the full potential of the continent will not be realised if we don’t address the challenges posed by poor infrastructure, small and fragmented markets, underdeveloped production structures and inadequate economic diversification.
“We must compliment and consolidate parallel African Union work on infrastructure and industrial development pillars, build supply capacity to take advantage of more open African markets,” he said. “The success of the ACFTA depends on our collective efforts and coordinated action to effectively implement the programme and achieve the vision that our forebears set out for us decades ago.”
Gauteng Provincial Whip in the NCOP and former South African Ambassador to Libya, Syria and Lebanon, Mr Mohammed Dangor, addressed the lecture on peace-keeping in Africa and the possible threat of conflicts to the trade agreement. He said peace and stability was crucial for economic development, as investors and innovators will not invest in countries that are unstable due to civil or regional wars. “One of the key threats and impediments to the successful implementation of the agreement is our continent’s history of war and conflict, which results in consistent political and economic instability. Political
instability results in economic instability,” said Mr Dangor.
Africa has been successful in ensuring political emancipation from colonialism and apartheid. However, the battle for the economic liberation is challenging. “Our pan-African’s founding fathers correctly analysed that for there to be true liberation we need economic liberation and in order to achieve economic liberation we need economic unity and integration of Africa. If we want to achieve the objectives of economic development and integration in Africa, we must meet our goals of silencing the gun, and as a country we must use all our resources and energies at bilateral and multinational levels to focus on ending conflicts where they are currently in existence and ensure foreign policy remains geared towards ending conflict – conflict management, resolution and resolution,” added Mr Dangor.
Professor Vusi Gumede, from the University of Mpumalanga’s faculty of Economics, Development and Business said the AfCFTA faces both internal and external threats, as well as other challenges that frustrate efforts towards political integration in Africa. He suggested that policy coordination is critical for free trade. “Africa’s socio-economic development rests on clear policies and their coordination, and the most important policies requiring coordination relate to managing inflation, exchange rate and money supply,” said Prof Gumede.