AMA boss declares Accra the Commercial Capital of Africa
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Source: GITFIConline.com
By Alexander NyarkoYeboah
The Mayor of Accra, Mr. Mohammed AdjeiSowah, has launched the new status of Accraas the Commercial Capital of Africa in recognition of the hosting of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat in Ghana.
As part of the ceremony, a plaque with the inscription ‘Accra, the Commercial Capital of Africa,’ was unveiled by the Senior Minister, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo together with the Mayor of Accra and other trade officials in Ghana.
This ceremony took place on Tuesday during the fourth Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference (GITFiC)on the African continental free trade area at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra.
In a speech before the launch, Mr. Sowahsaid, “Accra is ready to play a significant role in the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade agreement.“
Mr.Sowah said Accra had a-well-developed infrastructure, political and judicial governance for promoting intra-African trade, therefore Accra was ready to welcome trade financiers, insurers, logistics companies, technology companies, scientific researchers, manufacturers, etc. to Accra to conduct business.
Mr. Sowah asked the private sector “to spring into action and deliver growth and prosperity for this nation, through innovation and responsible use of our collective human and natural resources.”
The Mayor said, the AMA had plans to pursue an ambitious agenda to promote development, innovation and entrepreneurship within the metropolis in order to achieve the objectives of the assembly by collaborating with both national and international partners for this initiative.
“We believe that the outcome of this initiative would be the development of highly versatile, skillful and innovative entrepreneurs who can be countered on to fill the gaps in the production supply chain following active trading at the AfCFTA platforms.
“Our aim is to provide equitable development and an inclusive community where no one is left behind. Inspiteof the universal hope that AfCFTA would bring tremendous growth to Africa, we are aware that much more work has to be done to realize the benefits…in the area of making strategic and wise policy choices, proper execution of the protocols and its socio-economic impact on the different segments of the communities, among others,” he said.
The Mayor called for political commitment by all member states to implement the AfCFTA decisively, improve investment and intra-trade logistics and related infrastructures, and empower a resilient private sector to actively produce goods and services to complete the supply chain.
He said the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)would govern judiciously and drive local economic development, observing that, “The AfCFTA presents us with an opportunity to achieve substantial progress with diverse local economic activities in allowing our sustainable development agenda. Our goal would be working with our constituents to actively take advantage of the benefits Ghana and Africa would derive from AfCFTA.”
The Mayor said his outfit intended to work closely with all state institutions to identify all market opportunities which would inform their economic interventions and engagement with investors. “The object of such collaboration would ensure optimum regulatory reforms, attract investment through the assemblies Public Private Partnership for the development of key trading infrastructure and most importantly, direct investment to the requisite sectors,” he added.