Zimbabwe angles for maximum Africa trade benefits A participant stresses a point during the African Continental Free Trade Area workshop at a Bulawayo hotel yesterday. (Picture by Nkosizile Ndlovu)

Prosper Ndlovu, Business Editor

GOVERNMENT has initiated a process to develop a national strategy aimed at consolidating the country’s competitive advantages to ensure maximum trade benefits from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement. 

President Mnangagwa was part of the African Heads of State and Government who signed the historic continental trade agreement establishing the AfCFTA on March 21, 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda at the African Union Extraordinary Assembly. The country has since ratified the agreement with both the National Assembly and Senate duly endorsing the move in March this year.

Zimbabwe further deposited the instrument of ratification with the Depository (chair of the AU Commission) in May this year, becoming the 23rd country to do so. Yesterday the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade held a sensitisation workshop on the AfCFTA with relevant Government agencies and the private sector in Bulawayo where stakeholders unpacked the significance of the pact and highlighted areas of concern. Similar engagements have been conducted in Harare. “As Government, with the help from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, we are in the process of developing a strategy for the AfCFTA that seeks to identify where our competitive advantages lie,” said Ambassador James Manzou, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was represented by the ministry’s chief economist, Mrs Stella Nyagweta.

Given the immense potential of economic gains envisaged from full implementation of the AfCFTA, Amb Manzou challenged the private sector to play ball by taking the lead in driving the engagement processes in the national strategy formulation.

“In a market of over a billion people, we anticipate significant opportunities manifesting themselves, thereby leading to positive transformation of the economic landscape, especially for us here in Zimbabwe,” he said. 

“With proper planning we foresee great achievements of higher levels of industrialisation, employment creation, sustained economic growth and development. There is a need to take coherent, prioritised and well sequenced actions aimed at revitalising industrial growth.”

The gathering gave a lot of time to discussions centred on the development of a tariff elimination schedule, which will consist of 90 percent to be achieved in five years for non-Least Developed Countries and 10 years for Least Developed Countries. Zimbabwe has, however, sought a period of 15 years to achieve the tariff elimination target citing pressing domestic macro-economic fundamentals that need to be finetuned. 

Participants also asked many questions regarding the state of local industry and the need to avail more support to boost competitiveness, output and embracing modern technology. Others queried the relevance of other regional economic trading bloc trade agreements post AfCFTA full implementation. Some sought clarity on how protected economic sectors would be assisted in view of the rampant violations of the rules of origin by some regional economies.

Guided by the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) and the broader upper middle-income economy vision by 2030, Zimbabwe has already laid in place a supporting framework meant to address a multitude of needs, concerns and challenges confronting the business community. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has since launched the Zimbabwe National Industrialisation Development Policy (2019-2023) while President Mnangagwa last month launched the Export Promotion Strategy and the Zimbabwe Ntional Trade Policy in Bulawayo. At the continental level the AfCFTA came into effect on 30 May 2019 and the operational phase was launched in July in Niger by the AU Extraordinary Assembly. Trading under the agreement is expected to start on 1 July 2020.

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