{"id":37157,"date":"2018-03-20T15:50:02","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T15:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/engagement-of-private-sector-in-implementation-of\/"},"modified":"2018-03-22T19:03:26","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T19:03:26","slug":"engagement-of-private-sector-in-implementation-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/engagement-of-private-sector-in-implementation-of\/","title":{"rendered":"Engagement of Private Sector in implementation of AfCFTA is essential-Kagame"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kagame who is also the Chairperson for the African Union (AU) was speaking Tuesday in Kigali in African Continental Free Trade Area Business Forum.<\/p>\n

The Forum takes place following yesterday\u2019s special session of African Union\u2019s Executive Council and last week\u2019s session of Permanent Representatives Committee preparing the signing of the agreement establishing AfCFTA.<\/p>\n

Kagame said that tomorrow, Heads of States will sign a historic agreement, creating a Continental Free Trade Area. He said the road to such point has been long and they still have a few more steps to take. However, he said they are persisting towards new chapter in the story of African unity.<\/p>\n

He said that the stakes are enormous for Africa and the entire global economy where Africa will contribute greater share in the decades to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe creation of one African market necessarily entails a metamorphosis, in how we think, and act. The full involvement of the private sector is needed, more than ever before,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

He said everyone wishes that the consultation between business and political leadership at all levels becomes a continuous feature of continental deliberations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should be understood, that profit and power are not an end in themselves. They are tools for creating prosperity, for every African. The AfCFTA symbolises our progress toward the ideal of African unity, but that is not the only reason, why it is historic. These are the kinds of complex products, that drive high-income economies,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Less than 20% of Africa\u2019s trade is internal, meaning from one African country, to another. However, in the world\u2019s richest regional trading blocs, the level of internal trade is three or four times higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreasing intra-African trade does not mean doing less business with the rest of the world. On the contrary, as we trade more among ourselves, African firms will become bigger, more specialised, and more competitive internationally,\u201d Kagame noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s also be realistic. We cannot take the Continental Free Trade Area for granted. After it is signed, there will still be challenges. Any concerns or technical issues that remain should be addressed fairly but also expeditiously. Work on some additional protocols and annexes will also continue. Once again, the full engagement of the private sector will be absolutely essential,\u201d he reminded.<\/p>\n

Kagame called African countries to raise ambitions and work towards success of free trade. He requested them to move rapidly to accomplish the other flagship projects, in the first Ten-Year Implementation Plan of the African Union\u2019s Agenda 2063.<\/p>\n

He also called Member States to ratify the agreement and play their part to communicate their rationale and urgency to their parliamentarians, civil society organisations, and chambers of commerce and the media.<\/p>\n

Kagame noted that the implementation will mean reform of procedures and rules, at the national level; however, he reminded that it won\u2019t happen overnight as it will be a process requiring dialogue and flexibility.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As African countries are set to sign agreement to launch Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) tomorrow, President Paul Kagame has said that the move will not be taken for granted as there will be challenges along the implementation a reason why they will need the involvement of the private sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72],"byline":[197],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-37157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","byline-john-mbaraga"],"bylines":[{"id":197,"name":"John Mbaraga","slug":"john-mbaraga","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":19}],"contributors":[{"id":197,"name":"John Mbaraga","slug":"john-mbaraga","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":19}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37157"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=37157"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=37157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}