AfCFTA set to speed up Zim’s economic recovery

African Continental Free Trade Area

Prince Sunduzani, Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE is set to benefit immensely from the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) signed recently by President Emmerson Mnangagwa because of its rich mining, agricultural and tourism resources, economists have said.

The President joined 44 other leaders in signing the Protocol establishing the African Economic Community relating to free movement of persons, right of residence and right of establishment; and the Kigali Declaration for the launch of the AfCFTA.

Economists said Zimbabwe is poised for major economic growth if it identifies areas where it has competitive advantage and build their capacity to fill the void in the wider market.

The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) past president Mr Luxon Zembe said there was a need for Government to support local industry for the agreement not to have adverse effects.

He said if the country fails to fully develop its areas of strength, there was risk of the agreement back firing and foreign products flooding the local market, thus prejudicing the country’s local industry.

“It’s a very positive and strategic move by the President which opens up the country to a wider African market with well over 500 million people. What is important is for us to strengthen our capacities for competiveness,” Mr Zembe said.

“The protocol comes in with threats in the sense that if weaker states cannot compete they will have goods from other countries flooded into the country and you can get your whole industrial base wiped out and reduced to a consumer basket.

“We are very strong in the mining sector, we need to value add our minerals because that’s where our weakness is.

“We have competitive tourist destinations and we need to strengthen that area”.

Association for Business Zimbabwe (Abuz) chief executive officer Mr Victor Nyoni said the country would benefit from relaxed trade policies and low tariffs as it is presently a net importer.

He said the trade agreement will see the reduction of imported raw material costs and thus scaling down production costs leading to low prices.

“This agreement will boost trade and commerce within the region hence creating employment.

“As Zimbabwe is on the recovery path, a relaxed trade environment will enhance the speed of recovery and help the country catch up with other countries like Rwanda,” Mr Nyoni said.

Economist, Dr Davison Gomo concurred, adding that industry must prioritise retooling for it to have the capacity to create products that fit well into various markets on a large scale.

He said business organisations must start unpacking the trade protocols to their members and understand the dangers and opportunities within the agreement.

“There should be an effort to understand what each market segment in the free trade area wants and respond to that.

“We should start using the strategy of branding those appeals across cultures,” said Dr Gomo.

“We should enter into an endless path of continuous research and development because if we don’t do that, we will become redundant.”

@PrinceNkosy 102.

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