By Maureen Odunga
PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has reaffirmed Tanzania's commitment to ratify the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
She also pledged that Tanzania will fully support the continent economic emancipation drives. Once Tanzania ratifies the agreement, it is expected to have access to a market of over 1.3 billion people across the continent.
A statement issued by the Directorate of Presidential Communications said President Samia made the pledge, when she met with the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Mr Wamkele Mene, at the State House in Dodoma, yesterday.
"The government is finalising the process towards the ratification of the AfCFTA agreement. On the other hand, Tanzania will fully collaborate with you to achieve your mission of recovering the economy of the African continent," said President Samia.
Elaborating, she applauded Mr Mene for being elected Secretary General of AfCFTA by African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government during the 33rd Ordinary Session held from February 9 - 10, 2020 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
On his part, Mr Mene congratulated President Samia for being the first female President in Tanzania and for being the only female Head of State in the African continent.
"We are pleased that Tanzania has returned to the drawing table and all that has been discussed has attained a consensus," he pointed out.
Hence, the Secretary General welcomed President Samia to attend the secretariat meeting in Accra, Ghana this month as the lead speaker, noting that among the major goals of the meeting is to establish the Women Trade Protocol for petty traders.
Elaborating, Mr Mene noted that through the meeting, the secretariat will coordinate a fundraising to collect funds for rescuing businesses in various financial institutions including banks.
Equally, he expressed the secretariat's commitment to ensure that all its members benefit through industrial investment and increase the value chain of the products, which have been introduced.
In his speech, he further applauded President Samia for restoring the country to its right track, terming it leadership role as the way Father of the Nation, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, who was the founder of Pan Africanism managed and envisioned.
The President's pledge comes just a few days after the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Ambassador Liberata Mulamula disclosed that Tanzania was finalising steps towards the ratification of AfCFTA aimed at facilitating the free movement of goods and services within the continent.
"The process of ratification has come to an end before the country officially endorses the crucial agreement, " said Amb Mulamula. However, she assured the AfCFTA Secretary General that it will not take very long before Tanzania ratifies this crucial agreement.
The AfCFTA is one of the flagship projects of Africa´s Agenda 2063 and a major step towards African continental economic integration, which Tanzania fully participated and signed for its establishment. Analysts reports show that the significance of the AfCFTA cannot be overstated: It will be the world's largest free trade area since the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994.
It is estimated that under a successfully implemented AfCFTA, Africa will have a combined consumer and business spending of 6.7 trillion US dollars in 2030.
AfCFTA will also have a significant impact on manufacturing and industrial development, tourism, intraAfrican cooperation, and economic transformation. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has predicted it will raise intra-African trade by 15 to 25 percent, or 50 billion US dollars to 70 billion US dollars, by 2040, compared to an Africa without the AfCFTA.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) similarly projects that, under the AfCFTA, Africa's expanded and more efficient goods and labor markets will significantly increase the continent's overall ranking on the Global Competitiveness Index.
Increased market access, in turn, is expected to enhance the competitiveness of industries and enterprises, the exploitation.
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