Media in Africa must own the AfCFTA and its implementation, say top players

Top media personalities from across Africa have called for the formation of a pan-African group of trade journalists who will champion the agenda of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as well as the creation of an African Chamber of Commerce, led by individual member countries.

The journalists argued that the formation of such a body is the surest way to sensitise the continent to the merits of the AfCFTA.

They were speaking at a webinar, hosted jointly by the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), organiser of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD), and the AfCFTA Secretariat in Ghana on Tuesday (19 December 2023).

The objective of the webinar was to champion the propagation of the AfCFTA concept and all its economic benefits across the continent, as well as explore and strategise on how African media can engage people and promote information-disseminating services across the continent.

The webinar happened a month ahead of the next APD, slated to take place from 25-27 January 2024 at the Peduase Presidential Lodge in the Aburi Hills of eastern Ghana.

In his opening remarks, the founder/executive chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), Gabby Otchere-Darko, said that “the AfCFTA is arguably the biggest project for Africa” and every effort must be made to ensure its full implementation as seamlessly as possible.

In Otchere-Darko’s opinion, “The small trader in Lagos must understand the significance of being able to sell, especially with the support of technology, what she trades in another country on the African continent without having to pay any duties and other charges.”

For Africans to own the whole concept of free trade and to understand how relevant or impactful it can be to their livelihoods, Otchere-Darko highlighted the important role of the media, saying: “This is where the media comes in and how we can get the media to unpack this free trade story of the continent is really what this conversation is all about.

“It took a powerful media to get one country to leave a single market … I am talking about Brexit. In the same vein, it will take a powerful media on this [the African] continent to understand that if we come together in this single market, it will benefit all of us,” he said.

The webinar focused on four thematic areas in which the media can support the continental drive toward the full implementation of the AfCFTA. These are: opportunities and challenges in the AfCFTA; the media’s role in engaging citizens; forming networks across the media; and making information about the AfCFTA flow freely throughout the continent.

Opportunities/challenges

Speaking on the opportunities and challenges in creating a single African market, both Dr Tsotetsi Makong, chief technical advisor at the AfCFTA Secretariat, and Charles Onyango-Obbo, the author and famous columnist with Nation Media Group in East Africa, observed that the major challenge facing the continent is youth unemployment.

They argued that the problem could be resolved or exacerbated, depending on what the continent does or does not do with the AfCFTA.

Dr Makong was of the view that the trade volumes between the African continent and global economic powers such as China, the United States of America, the European Union, India and the United Kingdom are already vast.

What is now important is how the continent can shift this phenomenon to reflect trade between fellow African countries, he said.

The African continent, said Dr Makong, “is not trading with the world, but the world is trading with us [the African continent] and if this script continues in this manner, it will certainly go against the economic fortunes of the African continent”.

The respected editor and financial analyst Toma Imirhe told guests: “Having a pan-African chamber of commerce is absolutely essential for the success of the AfCFTA.

“Considering the amount of distrust between African trade and investment counterparties, the unavailability of a credible institution to do due diligence of potential partners would prevent intra-African transactions from being consummated.

“A pan-African chamber of commerce working in partnership with a continental media group would spur the needed action for stickiness of the AfCFTA.”

And the media consultant Kojo Mensah interjected, commenting: “We need a clear series of master messages that the free trade area wants to get across, and so there should already be a network of journalists across Africa that are regularly working on the issues of the organisation.”

Continent of choice

Yofi Grant, chief executive officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), a strategic partner of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues, observed that the rest of the world is keen to meet representatives of African countries or come to Africa because this is where the opportunities are.

He identified three of the myriad opportunities the continent offers, mentioning the “huge deposits of mineral resources that are a requirement for the energy transition the world is tilting towards as a major attraction”.

Another major point of interest, Grant said, is that no less than 40% of the world’s minerals are in Africa. Moreover, he identified Africa’s population of roughly 1.4 billion, touted as the fastest-growing in the world, as another global attraction.

He said a significant proportion of that demography (most estimates put it at nearly 60%) is young – under the age of 35. This in itself is a major consumer market waiting to happen and an important source of human capital for the world’s future development and growth.

Additionally, he said, “Africa is home to 60% of the world’s remaining arable land left for cultivation. So, if you’re looking at food security globally, you cannot have that conversation without talking about Africa.

“Indeed, Africa is where the next bulk of the world’s food should come from,” Grant said.

Grant argued that On the strength of these resources, the AfCFTA is a journey of development on which all African countries must embark together, if the continent is to force its way out from the bottom of the pile.

The media, he said, must be the pivot around which the continent will pursue this agenda.

Other speakers at the webinar were Patrick Smith, the editorial director of Africa Confidential and editor-in-chief of The Africa Report; Ferial Haffajee, associate editor of South Africa’s Daily Maverick; the singer/songwriter George Jahraa (famous for his hit “Ashikele”) and the author/editor Charles Onyango-Obbo, who is also a high-profile columnist for Nation Media Group in East Africa.

Africa Prosperity Dialogues

The Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) are organised by the Africa Prosperity Network (APN) in collaboration with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat.

Next month’s APD will be hosted by the president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who has invited many of his fellow African heads of state, as well as the President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Irfaan Ali.

The APD 2024 retreat will take place from 25-27 January 2024 at Peduase Presidential Lodge in the Aburi Hills of the Eastern Region of Ghana.

There will be a presidential dinner gala and a ceremony to mark the Africa Prosperity Champions Awards on the night of 26 January at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel in Accra.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra

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