Accra, Nov 9, GNA – Following the establishment of the headquarters of African Continental free Trade Area in Ghana, Mr Prince Bagnaba Mba, President of Forum for Equity, a human rights Non-Governmental Organisation has appealed to the Government to spearhead its implementation.
“Ghana should be in the vanguard for the acceleration of continental emancipation for free movement and unity by intensive advocacy for the cancellation of visa fee for all Africans and the African in the diaspora.
“You don’t visa back home would expand our business frontiers’.
In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday in Accra, Mr Mba said much as governments of member AfCFATA countries were doing everything possible to realise their dreams, much was yet to be realised from the continental free trade across colonial demarcated borders of the continent.
“Our forebears like Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s vision of borderless Africa should be a reality with our commitment to fast tracking of digitisation. Once, the identity is established, there is no need of a visa”.
He said lands were abandoned and fallowed for many years and the younger generations had turned their backs to abundant natural resources in search for economic mirages and miracles in less endowed parts of other continents.
“Villages can only be turned into cities when governments play a much more decisive policy implementation of rural development and open borders for greater tomorrow. We must open doors of hospitality to welcome our African brothers and sisters from anywhere in the world coming back home. This will restore prosperity and development and rekindle the spirit of our unique oneness”.
The Specific Objectives and immediate tasks of the AfCFTA State Parties involve the obligations to: progressively eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade in goods.
It is also to progressively liberalise trade in services, cooperate on investment, intellectual property rights and competition policy.
GNA