AfCFTA advisor urges businesses to form cooperatives

Techiman, (BE/R)-Ghana, Feb. 17, GNA – Mr Jacob Gyamfi-Aidoo, a Senior Advisor, Capacity Building and Stakeholders Engagement at the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), has advised businesses in Techiman in the Bono East Region to form cooperatives to enhance their business activities.
He said the government must also create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the Municipality.
As one of the largest local markets in the sub-Saharan region, Mr Gyamfi-Aidoo explained Techiman remained the hub of economic activities and trade point in the country, hence the need for the government to provide warehouses and processing facilities for traders.
Mr Gyamfi-Aidoo made the call when he addressed the opening session of the Bono East Regional Conference on the implementation of the AfCFTA agreement held in Techiman.
He said with the formation of cooperatives and associations, the local businesses could easily access financial assistance to expand their operations.
The conference was attended by traders, civil society organisations and actors, as well as other stakeholders aimed at sensitizing the participants on the AfCFTA agreement and policy framework to facilitate smooth implementation of the agreement.
It further sought to enlighten them on the processes and procedures for trading within the AfCFTA agreement.
Mr George Padmore Mensah, the Chief Director at the Bono East Regional Coordinating Council, said the council was ready to collaborate with the AfCFTA to facilitate successful implementation of the agreement in the region.
He noted that the AfCFTA had huge potential to create a broader and deeper economic integration that would attract investment, reduce poverty and increase shared property in Africa.
The AfCFTA also has the potential to enhance intra-Africa trade by 52 percent, widen the continent’s export earnings by US$560 billion, and lift an estimated 30 million people in the continent out of poverty.
Mr Mensah called on all industrial players in the region to strategize and leverage on the agreement to trade with other African countries.
He said the region’s economic prospects were derived from agriculture production, processing, distribution and marketing.