Business
EAC Identifies Govt Policies For Trade Growth
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has stated the need for government policies to support the harmonisation of regional value chains in order to further trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA).
According to a statement, the Chief Technology Section, Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resource Division, ECA, Mactar Deck, disclosed this during the launch of two publications: “Annual Economic Report for Africa 2022” and “The Existential Priorities of the AfCFTA” in Mauritius recently.
“AfCFTA provides new opportunities for local businesses to build new linkages in the supply chains on inter-African trade and that governments must create enabling policies and support the harmonisation of regional value chains”, he said.
Speaking at a session, Principal Economic Affairs Officer, Macroeconomic and Governance Division at ECA, Joseph Atta-Mensah, said integrating 55 economies on the continent into one was a powerful development.
He warned that to harness the power of integration, African countries must be competitive because barriers and tariffs will come down when the AfCFTA is fully operational.
“The AfCFTA is good but if we want to go to the full frontier of benefits that it promises we need to go the next mile and implement full customs and free movement of people”, the Director, Regional Integration and Trade Division at the ECA, Mr Stephen Karingi, advised.
Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of the Economic Commission for Africa, Hanan Morsy, in his remarks highlighted how Africa can leverage digital technologies and participate in global value chains.
“Building on the AfCFTA has become fundamental given the multiple crises that affect and continue to affect the African continent,” he noted.
Morsy, who was represented by the ECA Director of the sub-regional office for East Africa, Mama Keita, argued that the multiple crises affecting Africa present an opportunity to use digital technologies to enhance trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“The AfCFTA is a game changer in promoting industrialisation in Africa by availing the key market, demand, and area for trade implementation.”
Strategy Advisor, UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, Joy Kategekwa, noted that the AfCFTA was ‘in a state of capture’ because it did not deliver on implementation, was not clear on its capacities, and has not freed the movement of people across Africa’s borders.
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
