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Prosper Ndlovu, [email protected]
AMID the global economic landscape shift characterised by rising geopolitical tensions and increased trade protectionism, Zimbabwe has rallied its regional peers to urgently embrace the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and accelerate regional integration as a spring board of resilience and driving solid economic transformation of Africa.

African economies are not immune to the growing threat of tariff escalations and evolving trade restrictions, which have heightened, than ever before, highlighting the importance of regional trade blocs and the quest for a vibrant regional integration agenda.

Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, said this yesterday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he is attending the 57th Session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development.

Anchored on the theme: “Advancing the implementation of the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area: Proposing Transformative Strategic Actions,” the high-level event is being hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and attended by distinguished delegates and experts from across the continent.

Zimbabwe is the outgoing chair and hosted last year’s Indaba in Victoria Falls.

Calling on the African continent to rethink its strategic focus, Prof Ncube said the time has come for the region to come up with home-grown solutions on how to rebuild “the Africa we want” for future generations.

“We can choose to see these developments as challenges or see them as opportunities, which we have to collectively as a continent take advantage as a spring board for accelerating economic reforms through economic transformation,” he said.

“The AfCFTA serves as a power tool at our disposal for addressing some of these global challenges.

The AfCFTA offers a critical pathway for Africa to build resilience, reduce dependence on external markets, and drive sustainable industrialisation.”

Prof Ncube said it was disheartening that despite having a market of 1,4 billion people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeding US$3.4 trillion, current intra-Africa trade remains minimal.

If fully embraced, he said, the AfCFTA has the potential to boost intra-African trade by 45 percent by 2045, and emphasised the need to address implementation gaps that result in uneven progress due to structural barriers, inadequate infrastructure, and limited access to trade finance.

“The speed of success of the AfCFTA partially depends on the reform of the global financial architecture to make it responsive to the needs of the continent and other developing countries in general,” said Prof Ncube.

“In the short term, there is need for immediate implementation of the reallocation of the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) resolution to the need countries.

“In the medium to long term, there is need for the international community to come up with strategies to address the growing debt challenge for developing countries, as well as ease access concessional financing.”

In view of global aid restructuring and weaponisation of donor support in some instances, Prof Ncube stressed the need for Africa to deepen domestic resource mobilisation capacity as a critical resilience pillar.

He commended the conference for mainstreaming the call to accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA and establishing Africa as a key player in the reconfiguration of global trade.

Prior to the ministers’ summit, experts who gathered earlier also tackled the pressing economic challenges facing the continent and proposed several strategic priorities to guide policy actions.

These included the need to enhance regional value chains and trade infrastructure, strengthening production and supply chains in key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services to maximise value-addition and reduce Africa’s reliance on raw commodity exports.

“By fostering stronger intra-African linkages, we can transition to high-value industries and competitive regional markets,” said Prof Ncube.

The need to address trade barriers, and access to finance, implementing harmonised trade regulations, eliminating non-tariff barriers, restrictions of movement of people across borders, and scaling up innovative financing mechanisms like blended finance, thematic bonds, and trade facilitation funds, also came to the fore.

The conference also shined the light on embracing digital innovations for trade expansion. On this, Prof Ncube said Africa must enhance its engagement in the digital economy by integrating e-commerce, digital trade platforms, and fintech solutions into the AfCFTA framework.

“This will drive efficiency, reduce transaction costs, and open access to new markets,” he said.

Prof Ncube also called for strengthening macroeconomic stability and governance, enhancing fiscal discipline, improving debt management, scaling up domestic resource mobilisation and aligning national policies with regional integration commitments.

He said South Africa’s presidency of the G20 must also be leveraged to ensure the continent’s voice is heard on the vital need to reform the global financial architecture to achieve desired sustainability, and combating illicit financial flows.

“By leveraging our position, we can push for more inclusive frameworks that empower African nations to also engage meaningfully in the global economy, stimulate investment in key sectors, and support sustainable development goals,” said Prof Ncube.

During its tenure as chair, Zimbabwe has been a strong advocate for accelerating green industrialisation and climate finance, which Prof Ncube said will ensure that Africa’s trade growth aligns with its sustainable development goals.

“Integrating climate-smart trade policies into the AfCFTA will unlock new opportunities in renewable energy, carbon markets, and green supply chains, positioning Africa as a leader in sustainable industrialisation. Africa cannot afford to remain on the margins,” he said.