Senior Partner at AB and David, David Ofosu-Dorte, has urged African businesses not to drag their feet in embracing the numerous opportunities the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presents to the Continent.
He has thus advised owners of business entities to overcome the fear of change arising from the agreement’s technicalities and or initial bottlenecks to the business community.
Already, some entrepreneurs have raised concerns that issues such as tariff adjustments remain one of the major impediments to the implementation of the AfCFTA.
But speaking on the on-air series of the Citi Business Festival on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, Mr. Ofosu-Dorte admitted that although surmounting difficulties are evident in the implementation of the deal, the businesses ought to see the agreement as a stepping stone rather than a hindrance to boosting export trade in Africa.
“There will always be challenges, but we should not be looking at it [AfCFTA] from the angle of problems that we face. We should be looking at it from the angle of what we can do now.”
“I have seen so many businesses that are waiting for the AfCFTA to be completed and perfected before they start, those businesses are going to lose out. This is the best time to prepare,” he emphasized.
Mr. Dorte cautioned businesses to be mindful of huge competition in the market in Africa in the future to come, considering the free trade agreement benefits and other synergized trade relations.
“Businesses have to start now, I don’t see why anyone would want to wait for AfCFTA and all the difficulties removed before.” If you say you don’t care about AfCFCTA and tell yourself that, after all, I am serving only this market – unfortunately, the effect is that when competitors come and your brand is not so strong, you will be eaten up”, David Ofosu-Dorte advised.
The AfCFTA presents a massive opportunity for Ghanaian businesses to take advantage of the huge African market.
However, taking advantage of the opportunity is not straightforward.
Ghanaian businesses need to become more competitive in different ways, to enable them to not only take advantage of the new opportunities the pact presents, but also consolidate their place in the domestic Ghanaian market.
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