By Kumba Leigh
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment on Tuesday, 2nd September, 2024 engaged personnel of Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the media in a day-long workshop to shed light on the Africa Continental Free Trade Areas (AfCFTA) Agreed modalities of the protocols on trade in goods.
The objectives of the sensitization are: To raise awareness and understanding of AfCFTA protocols among NGOs, CSOs, and media organisations in The Gambia, to build capacities of NGOs, CSOs, and media organisations to effectively advocate for and monitor the implementation of AfCFTA protocols, and to promote collaboration among various stakeholders to ensure inclusive and equitable benefits from AfCFTA.
The AfCFTA Agreement is one of the single most ambitious undertakings made by African Union in advancing the course of African Regional Integration Project since the launch of the agenda 2063. It aims at boasting intra-African trade to promote economic growth, structural transformation and industrialization of the African economies, leading to increased productivity, job creation, and higher value-added exports among African countries.
The trade protocol aims to liberalise 90% of tariffs on goods, and facilitate trade between member states.
Abdoulie Jammeh, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, said the AfCFTA aims to make it easier for African businesses to integrate regionally and tap into the global and regional supply chains.
“The Gambia, thus, continued to participate effectively in the negotiations organised both at the ECOWAS and AfCFTA levels to address outstanding issues relating to the Protocol on Trade in Goods and the Protocol on Trade in Services as well as phase two related protocols on Investment, Competition and Intellectual Property Rights (ICIPR).
He said official implementation of the AfCFTA started effective 1st January, 2021 and as part of the preparation to ensure the effective commencement of trade under the agreement, the Government of The Gambia has undertaken certain initiatives to consolidate its preparedness; such as the incorporation of the formulation of the AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy through the technical support of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
DPS Jammeh affirmed that the main objective of the strategy is to leverage deeper integration within Africa to maximise welfare gains and food security, boost trade and investment, and support structural transformation and industrialisation to enhance employment and business opportunities for The Gambia’s growing population.
As part of the implementation of the AfCFTA, he said the Ministry has established a National AfCFTA Implementation Committee to serve as a high-level Inter-Ministerial Committee comprising MDAs, private sector, and civil society. He said the committee is designed to provide technical support and promote high-level political oversight and coordination relating to AfCFTA negotiations and implementation in The Gambia.
The DPS informed that The Gambia has also expressed interest in joining the second pilot of the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative (GTI). GTI is a solution-oriented approach that aims to facilitate trade between interested state parties by connecting businesses and products for export and import to help kick-start commercially meaningful trade under the AfCFTA preferences.
For his part, Modou Lamin Mbye, Programme Officer for Networking and Fundraising, Tango, said for any country to excel and thrive, there has to be economic development and empowerment for its people and that with AfCFTA there is no doubt that that is achievable.
He noted that the role of the NGOs is crucial in this crusade, “because they directly work with communities in their economic programmes.
Mr Mbye assured of CSO commitment to collaborate with Gambia Government to enhance advocacy and awareness around AfCFTA.
On 16th April 2019, The Gambia ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and has recently expressed interest in joining the second pilot of the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) to facilitate trade between the AfCFTA member states. Therefore, as part of the outreach programme, the Trade ministry developed ..a communication strategy to sensitise and maximise the benefits of AfCFTA.
