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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

MARKETING professionals from across Africa have called for the adoption of a single currency on the continent to foster unity and equal economic benefits for all member States.

More than 200 marketers from across Africa physically attended the inaugural African Marketing Confederation (AMC) conference last week, which also drew a virtual audience of about 250 members in Victoria Falls.

The Marketers Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ) hosted the event, which was officially opened by Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa, who is MAZ patron.

AMC is the mother body of marketers’ associations in Africa and MAZ is a member. The conference ran under the theme “Astute marketer: Reshaping the future of business in Africa.”

Speaking at the conference, participants said Africa is an untapped market with a great potential hence using a common currency is one of the ways that can catapult the continent to growth.

A single currency is a unit of money that is used by more than one country. The euro is the single currency of some of the countries of the European Union. In Africa there are two existing regional currency unions using the West African CFA franc and the Central African CFA franc.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) proposed use of a single currency.

The Common Monetary Area also links several countries in Southern Africa based on the South African rand. The continent has more than 1,2 billion across all 54 countries.

Participants questioned why Africa was not moving towards a single currency with one of the presenters and head marketing and communications at Housing Finance Bank of Uganda, Ms Doreen Nyiramugisha, saying the issue of a single currency must be top of the agenda.

“Single currency is top of agenda. In East Africa talks are ongoing to solve inflation in countries and single currency is part of it. This is top of the agenda of central banks and some leaders are addressing that,” she said.

The continent should leverage on the young population as Africa is still untapped and this growing economy presents business opportunities, added Ms Nyiramugisha.

“Young people are a growing population and that’s where the money and future is,” she said.

Minister Mutsvangwa who was guest speaker said Zimbabwe, and indeed Africa, possess enormous potential in every economic sphere. She reiterated the call for marketers to showcase these endowments and spur the growth of intra and inter-country trade on the continent.

She made reference to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) initiative as a step in the right direction towards ensuring that trade between countries on the continent is not only accelerated but is deepened to strengthen our economies.

“This has the potential to create a single African market with a potential GDP of over US$3 trillion, effectively making Africa the largest free trade area in the world,” said the minister.

“At sub-regional level, we also have such bodies as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) among others.

“As customs duties are reduced, and barriers to trade are lowered through the work of these bodies, marketers must be seen to be actively participating in the enhancement of trade by linking producers to suppliers, manufacturers to consumers, and governments to governments,” said Mutsvangwa.

The conference aimed to equip African marketers with practical tools to use in their diverse cultures, promote exchange of ideas and networking opportunities, assist marketers develop home grown marketing opportunities and solutions to address unique African challenges.

— @ncubeleon