Africa must boost industrial capacity to benefit from free-trade zone – AfDB

29th July 2019

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

African nations will need to boost output of goods and services and integrate payment systems if they are to take advantage of a new $3.4-trillion economic initiative, according to the head of the African Development Bank.

A continental free-trade zone was launched this month in Niger which, if successful, will usher in a new era of development for an area with a population of 1.3-billion people.

It is hoped that the 55-nation African Continental Free Trade Area - the largest bloc since the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1994 - will help unlock Africa's long-stymied economic potential by boosting intra-regional trade, strengthening supply chains and spreading expertise.

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the AfDB, said he expected industrial manufacturing capacity in Africa to increase, while financial markets would integrate and food production expands.

"Africa has to have its own industrial capacity ... it's not just about moving raw materials, it's about value added products," Adesina told Reuters on the sidelines of an conference in Nigeria's capital city of Abuja.

The bank chief said African countries need to mobilise more domestic resources, and encourage sovereign wealth and pension funds to invest in infrastructure.

"We brought investors to Africa and in less than 72 hours we mobilised $38.7-billion," he said. "That tells me that the opportunities are there, if we can get the regulatory and investment environment right."

He said nations need to provide the right incentives to boost local output while encouraging competition.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION