By Mariatou Ngum
The Honorable Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, Mr. Baboucarr Ousmaila Joof has described the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) as the most important trade tool in Africa today.
According to him, the adoption of the Agreement establishing AfCFTA has to be celebrated by all Africans as it expresses their unity in moving the continent forward.
Hon Joof made this remark on Thursday, June 15, 2023, during the special plenary session on trade at the 18th edition of the CII-Exim Bank Conclave on India-Africa Growth Partnership held at the TAJ Palace, New Dehli, India.
Minister Joof said the continent-wide Free Trade Agreement will strengthen Africa’s Economic Integration and significantly improve the well-being of Africa’s farmers, workers, and entrepreneurs, particularly women and youth. Adding that, the promise of free trade and free movement is prosperity for all Africans because they are prioritising the production of value-added goods and services that are “Made in Africa”.
“Implementing the AfCFTA is more than trade,” Minister Joof noted, adding that it is about dispelling the “crisis of implementation” of African Union (AU) decisions and initiatives and validating AU’s Agenda 2063.
He informed the gathering that The Gambia has actively participated in the AfCFTA negotiations, signing the Agreement in March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda, and subsequently ratifying it in April 2019. “My Ministry in collaboration with the stakeholders has been working hard to ensure that Gambians are fully aware and involved in the AfCFTA implementation process,” he said.
He added that the AfCFTA has injected a new dynamism into the country’s socio-economic development efforts. “Given the strategic geographic location of The Gambia, regional integration is crucial for our economic development. Regional integration offers us the opportunity to promote investment, trade, and industrial development as it provides a wider market for our private sector operators. With this opportunity of an enlarged market offered by the AfCFTA, the private sector would easily operate beyond our national geographical boundaries in an expanded continental market of 1.2 billion consumers. This makes our country and by extension, our continent attractive for business,” he stated.
In pursuit of a more robust economic growth strategy, Minister Joof affirmed that The Gambian Government, through his Ministry, is committed to developing a trade logistics and Special Economic zone (SEZ), within the proposed 50km wide Trans-Gambia Corridor.
This Trans-Gambia Corridor Special Economic Zone (SEZ), he explained, will be linked with the Port of Banjul, with multi-modal connectivity infrastructure/services. Notably: inland river transportation port facilities; improved trunk road network: north bank and south-bank trunk roads and the Senegambia Bridge; and a regional airstrip to transform the regional urban growth centers into future metro poles and economic engines of employment creation for the youth, and the underemployed.
In conclusion, the Trade Minister, on behalf of the Government of The Gambia, thanked the Indian Government through its Ministries of Commerce and Industry and External Affairs, as well as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for its steadfastness in expanding economic cooperation through initiatives such as this conclave that will enhance the partnership between Africa and India.