By Kodjo Adams
Accra, Nov 27, GNA – Mr Ziad Hamoui, Fellow, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), has called for public-private collaboration to align national, regional, and continental policy priorities to drive intra-Africa trade volumes.
He said policymakers needed to be better informed about happenings across their borders to help formulate better policies in the African trading space.
Mr Hamoui, also the Representative of CILT on AfCFTA, said this in Accra at this year’s Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)-Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) conference hosted by GIMPA in Accra.
He spoke on the topic: The Opportunities and Challenges of Transport and Logistics to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
He said building trust was key to a successful public-private partnership in promoting intra-African trade.
Mr Hamoui said to boost intra-Africa trade, it was imperative to improve intra-Africa transport and called for ways to enhance African connectivity in all modes of transport, including land, air, and sea.
He called for support of an African common framework for short-sea shipping and a better use of the continent’s inland waterways.
On land transport, he said the continent needed to connect roads, develop cross-border infrastructure, and facilitate the movement of people.
He said doing business across Africa was costly due to long delays at ports and borders, poor infrastructure, harassment along transit corridors, mainly from uniformed services, and called for urgent actions.
“Doing business across Africa is challenging because of diversion along transit corridors, smuggling, insurgency, mis-declaration, under-invoicing, and tax evasion,” he said.
The consequences of these challenges, he stressed, led to the proliferation of internal trade barriers, food shortages, and high post-harvest losses.
Mr Baba Adongo, an International Development Consultant, underscored the importance of AfCFTA opportunities, including reduced tarrifs, investment in value addition, agricultural innovation, expanded market access, and employment creation.
Speaking on the “Opportunities and Challenges of Agriculture and Agro-Processing in Relation to AfCFTA,” AfCFTA presented Ghanaian agribusiness with unprecedented opportunities to expand and innovate.
He said the success of these opportunities would depend on addressing infrastructural, financial, and regulatory challenges while fostering collaboration and capacity building.
Ms Anna Lena Sabroso-Wasserfall, KAS Country Representative for Ghana, said the event would help create knowledge on the opportunities of AfCFTA and how policymakers could best direct support for achieving the action plan’s benefits by 2030.
KAS supports the implementation of AfCFTA because it aligns with its broader mission to promote democratic governance, economic development, and international cooperation.
GNA