Denis Opudo
The recently signed Africa Continental Trade agreement has received an overwhelming support. The ACFTA was signed by 44 African head of states. It will help the African countries carry out the trade within their borders without any restriction. The signing of the trade agreement took place in Kigali Rwanda. The agreement took a long period of time before it received a unanimous support. Previously tariffs affected trade between different countries and this hindered their developments. This round the head of states decided to put down their personal differences. They then focused on the benefit of the agreement to their countries.
In Kenya 10 clergy from different religious denominations supported the agreement. They said that the move will offer employment opportunities to the currently unemployed youths. Free trade within the African borders will place the continent in the world economy. The signed agreement will offer a free market for goods and services across Africa. Therefore there will be an increase in the intra Africa trade.
Intra-African trade accounts for almost 13% of the total trade taking place across Africa. The clergy argues that the agreement will assist Africa in becoming production capital of the global south. This will, therefore, enable the continent to take part in the global trade. They went ahead and challenged the African governments to invest in infrastructure. Furthermore, the African governments should work on improving the skills of their population. This will help in achieving the set goals of the 21st-century global economy. Without the required skills the African development will go on at a slower rate. The skills will help the population in getting jobs rather than continue relying on white collar jobs. Entrepreneurship culture should be instilled in the youths. This will help them to be dependable by carrying out their own ventures.
