Renaming the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as African Trade Union (ATU) will re-invigorate the enthusiasm of Africans to effectively participate in the agreements, Mr Prince Bagnaba Mba, President of Forum for Equity has said.
“The acronym AFCFTA is mouthful and will sound better as ATU, for African Trade Union. Issues of marketing need simple and catchy names that will attract participants and investors”.
Mr Mba who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the importance of the AfCFTA to the development of African countries, extolled the architects of the zone for coming out with such an important agreement that could bring a common market to Africans and beyond.
AfCFTA was established in March 2018, with the primary objective to create a single market to help facilitate the free movement of persons, goods and services, and investments which will help fast-track the creation of African customs union.
It also aimed to reinforce intra-African trade, harmonize the coordination of trade liberalization and facilitation regimes and instruments across the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and across Africa in general.
It is also to accelerate regional and continental integration procedures, and resolve multiple and overlapping memberships challenges and to augment industrial competitiveness through production, market access and resources reallocation.
Mr Mba said one of the greatest achievements of Ghanaians under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, creating a single united market with headquarters in Accra, Ghana.
“From March 2018,Ghana galvanised continental support and to set the ball rolling and credit must be given to the Diplomatic Triangle, the President, his Vice and the then Minister of Trade and Industry”.
He said as Graduates of former President JA Kufuor school of Economics Diplomacy, they applied their high sense of negotiations and made sure common good and fruitful interest was secured, but a careful observation showed lack of sensitisation at the grassroots, the market operators and industrialists.
“The average African for whom, it was created does not know its present relevance”
He emphasized that the agreed pact should not be another bureaucratic establishment for technocrats or job for the boys in the corridors of power as a laudable organisation of that kind could be the realisation of the dreams of the founding fathers for a single unit African market where goods and services move unhindered.
Giving some examples, he mentioned the Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), United Nations (UN), African Union (AU) adding that making the name African Trade Union could bring in vibrancy and vigour into the agreements and investments.
