By Kodjo Adams
Accra, Jan. 31, GNA – This year’s 74th Annual New Year School and Conference (ANYSC) has ended with an applause for the African Continental Free Trade Area(AfCFTA).
It focused on promoting and facilitating stakeholders’ preparedness consolidate efforts by African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) within the sub-region, which has the potential to turn Africa’s fragmented peripheral markets into a united and more purposeful market.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia opened the 2023 New Year School as the special guest of honour on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, at the Great Hall of University of Ghana, legon.
Mr Wamkele Keabetswe Mene, Secretary-General, AfCFTA, delivered the keynote address at the conference on the theme “Positioning the African Market for Sustainable Economic Development Through AfCFTA”.
The Conference also organised a session for the youth, dubbed “ Youth School” which brought together selected tertiary schools and secondary schools to learn about AfCFTA and contribute to national discourse.
The conference was under the auspices of the School of Continuing and Distance Education, College of Education, University of Ghana, in collaboration with the Ministries of Finance, Education, Communications and Digitization, Trade and Industry, and Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
The conference stimulated discussions on how AfCFTA will contribute to the socioeconomic growth of Africa, how to strengthen trade, industry and commerce leveraging on the presence of AfCFTA in the midst of global economic downturn and the operationalisation of economic integration of the African continent.
The Conference also focused on AfCFTA’s strategies in resolving the challenges of multiple and overlapping memberships and expediting the regional and continental integration processesn and governments’ commitment and AfCFTA’s expectations in creating a continent that is a hub for industrial development.
Topics for discussions on the opening day of the conference included Financial Sector Preparedness for AfCFTA, Business, Investment and Industry Preparedness for AfCFTA, and Educational Sector Preparedness for AfCFTA.
The second day witnessed panel discussion on Governance, Peace and Security Preparedness for AfCFTA, Women in Trade, Digital Technology Development Preparedness for AfCFTA, AfCFTA Diaspora Relations, and Updates on AfCFTA.
The final day which focused on the youth school touched on Opportunities for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship: Understanding the AfCFTA, YouStart Ghana Initiative, Entrepreneurship Opportunities for the youth:Does Trade Policies Work for the Ghanaian Youth? Preparing the Ghanaian Youth to Access an Integrated African Market and Mentorship Clinic.
Dr Simon-Peter Kafui Aheto, Director, 74th Annual New Year School and Conference, presenting a communiqué at the end of the Conference, urged member states to accelerate the process of developing regional common currencies for effective implementation of AfCFTA.
The Conference urged the Government to develop a differential interest rate structure for businesses under AfCFTA.
It urged the Ministry of Finance, through the Bank of Ghana, to ensure that Small and Medium Enterprises and businesses in the agricultural sector accessed loans with competitive interest rates from financial institutions.
The Conference asked the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the National AfCFTA Coordination Office to create business advisory centres at the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies(MMDCs) to assist Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and large businesses to harness the benefits of AfCFTA.
As part of the 4th industrial revolution, the Conference urged educational institutions to develop their curricula as commodities to harness the opportunities of the open market afforded by AfCFTA.
The Conference among others, recommended that member states should safeguard national security, address disputes that might arise in a swift, decisive, and transparent manner, ratify the Freedom of Movement Protocol among member states, and promote the work of women entrepreneurs to improve intra-African trade.
It is expected that the Conference would contribute to the continent’s quest in advancing trade and industry to build a robust African economy and growth in member countries.
The Conference created a platform for every Ghanaian, and every African to have a better understanding and involvement of the whole concept of the AfCFTA.
Since its inception in 1948, the Annual New Year School and Conference has been the flagship programme of the University and attracts people from all walks of life to deliberate on topical issues of national and international interests.
It opens at the beginning of every new year, setting the agenda for critical national discussions.
It is the hope all afro-optimists that the concept of the African continental free market, which is long overdue, will engage the minds of all especially, the youth of Africa as they seek to harness the vast resources and energies of the continent to build a better future.
GNA