Malawi has to build appropriate institutions for the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, so that the institutions can prioritize the implementation work and enhance the capacities of other institutions, such as the National AfCFTA Committee, that are dealing with trade facilitation measures and trade information sharing with the business community. This will boost the country’s trade performance while increasing intra-African trade.
Making the call at a high-level multi stakeholder conference on spearheading the ratification and implementation of the AfCFTA , held on 8-11 February 2022 in the Malawian capital, Lilongwe, ACBF’s Senior Knowledge Management Expert, Dr Barassou Diawara, said building and strengthening institutions as well as improving coordination arrangements and enhancing capacities for implementation were the right thing to do as the implementation of the AfCFTA was a key priority for Africa and its member countries.
He told the conference about the work ACBF had done, and is still doing, to support the implementation of the AfCFTA. This included: (a) ACBF’s support for Togo to build private sector capacity for contributing to the implementation of a National Development Plan for the country. (b) ACBF-BADEA-IsDB Project on “building capacity for empowering women and youth in agriculture”. (c) ACBF-Afreximbank Project on “building capacity to accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA”. (d) ACBF’s supply of knowledge products and services around the AfCFTA.
Dr. Diawara represented ACBF at the high-level multi stakeholder conference at the invitation of the organizers, the African Union Southern Africa Regional Office (AU-SARO) which is based in Lilongwe.
ACBF was officially invited as a participant at the conference in recognition of its work and support provided to AU member states and institutions in Africa during the past 30 years.
The Foundation was also requested to be a panelist in the “High-Level Panel Discussion on Malawi’s Preparedness and Capacity Building” for the implementation of the National AfCFTA Strategy.
Dr Diawara used the occasion to share ACBF’s experience and work on issues related to the AfCFTA. In the process, he brought visibility to the Foundation’s activities as he sought further partnership and collaboration to support ACBF’s work.
