Africa is making great strides in strengthening an agreement that unifies trade across the continent.
Following the example of the European Union in some respects, the Africa Free Trade Area aims to lay the foundations for a trade network that will encourage trade across the continent. However, there is still a long way to go, but what is clear is that cooperation with foreign countries is vital to achieve the goals. This is where Spain plays a decisive role in driving the growth that Africa is experiencing and favouring the evolution of the agreement.
This is a step on which all the speakers at the round table entitled “What does the African free trade area mean for Spain and Europe” were in agreement. A presentation made up of Mariétou Coulibaly, from the Regional Consular Chamber of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (CCR-UEMOA), Jerónimo Falcón López, senior manager of Proexca, Pere Navarro from the company Zona Franca de Barcelona, Santiago Muelas, regional director of the Romeu España group, and Abdou Diop, from the company Mazars. It was precisely the latter who began by assuring that this project is the “largest integration project in Africa”.
Diop highlighted customs as one of the main barriers to trade between African countries. He regrets this because he sees his continent as one that “has a lot to trade with”. “Many African nations don’t have trade agreements, they need to increase the volume of trade,” said Abdou Diop, while linking trade to the free movement of people. He believes that “both agreements must coexist. There can’t be free trade without free movement of people. However, currently only a dozen countries have signed this agreement, which he hopes will change because, as he explained in his speech, “all African nations are committed, and that is the most important thing”.
This commitment is what countries such as Spain should join, or at least that is how Mariétou Coulibaly sees it: “We have to sit down and talk. I know that Spain has experience in a number of areas where we need progress.” One of these sectors he referred to is industrialisation, which he sees as a problem in Africa. For this reason, he appealed to Spain, which he believes can also be of great help because of its knowledge and experience in terms of health and construction materials.
Establishing a link with Africa must be a two-way street. Taking advantage of the talent of the African continent must be one of the objectives of this cooperation, as Pere Navarro pointed out. And it must be done now, because it is not only a vision for the future, it is a question of the present: “Talent is growing in Africa, it is a reality, it is not something for the future”. A fact that Navarro himself linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which he says “they show us the way to take advantage of new technologies, protect women’s rights, and establish alliances, among many other things. In Spain, we want to strengthen these partnerships.
All the speakers agreed that it is important to help growth through development and training, not to give finished products. Jerónimo Falcón López stated that “China wants to capitalise on the African free trade agreement, and this must be avoided”. Incentives should be given for production on the continent itself, not for others to bring finished products to Africa. This is the only possible way to achieve growth, to support the training and qualification of people who can start their own initiatives, not to import material and products from outside.
But in order to deliver both the infrastructure and the raw materials needed to lay the foundations for growth, it is important to provide import guarantees. The certainty that is sometimes lacking on the part of investors that Santiago Muelas spoke of. “The key is the guarantee of being able to establish good trade connections”, because, he says, “there are companies that withdraw because they do not have the necessary certainty of these exchanges, and that is why these links must be provided with security”. All of these are indispensable elements in a road map that will lead Africa to a strong commercial position and, above all, allow it to encourage free trade and the free transit of people throughout the African continent.
Source : Atalayar
