It has been disclosed by the Ghana Statistical Service that only 134,000 businesses representing 26.2% of the firms nationwide are currently aware of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement,
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement is set to begin in January 2021 with an estimated potential of boosting both intra-African trade by 52.3 percent by eliminating import duties, and doubling this trade if non-tariff barriers are reduced.
Despite the publicity around this major feat, the Business Tracker has revealed that only a little over 26 percent of firms in the country are aware of the AfCFTA and its projected benefits.
Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, speaking at the launch of the second wave of the COVID-19 Business Tracker Survey Government Statistician, said that though the awareness is low, about 76 percent of the firms after some education believe the implementation of AfCFTA will bring major transformations to their businesses.
“We have just over a quarter of the Businesses indicating that, they were aware of the African Continental Free Trade Area. This we thought was very important because it is the basis by which the business can harness the returns associated with this agreement which has its secretariat situated in Ghana.”
“About three-quarters of the large firms indicated that they were aware of the AfCFTA while only a quarter of the small and micro businesses were aware of this. While we had close to all the large firms being confident that the AfCFTA was going to lead to a transformation in their businesses, we have just about two-thirds of the medium-sized enterprises indicating the same,” he said.
Prof. Annim added that the findings have ensured engagements with stakeholders in charge of educating the business community on opportunities such as the AfCFTA.
He went farther by saying “The intended benefits of the AfCFTA are enormous and have been touted as such, so one would expect that firms and businesses should be aware. Once we found out this, we’ve taken steps to ensure that, we intensify sensitization on the AfCFTA to ensure that businesses and firms in Ghana can leverage and benefit from the returns associated with it.”
