AfCFTA can position African economies stronger against COVID-19

Addis Ababa , Ethiopia | Xinhua | The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement can potentially position African economies stronger in the face of future global shocks such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a senior United Nations trade policy expert said on Wednesday.

Speaking exclusively to Xinhua, David Luke, Coordinator of the Africa Trade Policy Center at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) said intra-Africa trading could help cushion future global shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic that has exposed the vulnerability of African countries’ dependence on their trade partners in the rest of the world.

“Successful implementation of the AfCFTA could support the development of competitive and resilient regional value chains and increase domestic and regional industrialization, including in the health sector. Therefore, the AfCFTA can potentially position African economies more strongly in the face of future global shocks,” Luke told Xinhua.

According to a recent study of the UNECA, African countries import 94 percent of their medical and pharmaceutical products from outside the continent.

With the global supply chain disruptions resulting from the pandemic, the UNECA noted that African countries are in shortage of medical supplies, basic food items, and other products.

“A key implication of these challenges for Africa is that the continent needs to produce more of what it consumes. Successful implementation of the AfCFTA could support the development of competitive and resilient regional value chains and increase domestic and regional industrialization, including in the health sector,” according to Luke.

Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital technology as a significant driver of intra-African trade and economic growth, the coordinator also stressed that the upcoming e-commerce protocol under the AfCFTA “will undoubtedly contribute to advancing the digitalization agenda of African economies.”

According to the UNECA Economic Report on Africa (2020), Africa’s economy grew at an estimated 3.4 percent in 2019. The report, however, projected that the continent’s average growth is projected at -4.1 percent in 2020.

The African continent on January 1 officially started trading under the AfCFTA, drawing greater expectations towards continental integration and a larger continental market, and offering new hope of continental exhilaration in terms of boosting intra-African trade, and eventually facilitating Africa’s development and industrialization.

The accord has the potential to boost intra-Africa trade by more than 52 percent by the year 2022, according to the UNECA.

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Xinhua