President Edgar Lungu has expressed satisfaction with the African Continental Free Trade Area’s (AFCFTA) agenda of accelerating intra-African trade and boosting the continent’s trading position in the global market.
President Lungu reiterated that Zambia has a firm belief in intra-Africa trade, noting that Africa is a big market exploited by the rest of the world but not exploiting itself for growth.
“If Zambia can trade and benefit from regional integration to start with, it will be easier for Zambia to trade within Africa, and for African countries to trade within Zambia, and thereby keeping our wealth internally,” the President said.
The Head of State said this when AFCFTA Secretary-General Wamukele Mene paid a courtesy call on him at State House yesterday.
President Lungu has meanwhile commended Mr. Mene and his team for embarking on the initiative to visit member states to share their aspirations and to familiarize themselves with national systems for better collaboration among countries and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area.
“I think it is important that we back up our talks with financial and economic strength, and this can only happen if we subscribe to this idea and not only subscribe but implement it, and the time to do that is now,” President Lungu said.
And visiting AFCFTA Secretary-General Wamukele Mene thanked the government of Zambia for supporting his candidature in February last year for him to become the first Secretary-General of the organization.
Mr. Mene appreciated the support he received from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region for him to ascend to the position.
He has meanwhile congratulated Zambia for ratifying the Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement.
He said Zambia is the only country that has submitted the trade in goods and the trade in services offers to AFCFTA.
Mr. Mene took the opportunity to outline the organization’s vision during his tenure of office.
He said interconnectivity between small medium enterprises on the African continent as well as industrialisation are the avenues that will increase the continent’s global trade share from the current three percent.
“The first and most important thing we have to do is to make sure that this agreement and its benefits are inclusive. No single African country can be globally competitive by itself, that is why there is need for collaborative efforts,” he said.
The AFCFTA Secretary General also used the opportunity to disclose that the organization had sourced financing from the African Export- Import Bank (AFEX) for productive sector investment such as textile, in order to set the industrialisation agenda into motion.
Lungu is happy with ACFTA boosting cross border trade yet he’s badly failing economics? You can’t boost African trade with a free falling Kwacha.
Pff will support anything that is free
Lazy Lungu does not understand economics ….how can you be happy with free trade when your country imports more than it exports ….lazy mindset indeed
Just the other day this lazy moron was banning importation of some farm produce……..
Such agreements are followed when you have mature internal production and markets, not when you wake up from a hangover and realise that your country infacts imports most things……..
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PF time out You’re in GRZ way;”To get in the way of something means to make it difficult for it to happen, continue, or be appreciated properly”.
PF time out.
Quite surprising that Lungu is happy with AFCFTA, because if implemented there won’t be any import duty and VAT to claim by government, which currently is a major source of income for the country. I guess he doesn’t realize that AFCFTA is good for trade but bad for government coffers. I bet he will make a U-turn when he finds out!
My wise president for me. I agree with you. Upnd dogs no matter how much you hate on our president he is still president of the nation. He is also f00lish hhs president. If hh doesn’t like then he can fuk off
Aba nabo…awe mwe!
But Africa is one continent you cannot reject your own house and think you are clever, Africa was divided so that colonisers could take advantage and plunder the whole continent, to be clever all Africa should come together to solve their problems as one not divided as some shallow minds think.
Divided we are weak and can’t achieve anything in this world, we can learn from the animal kingdom how small creatures team up to fight larger and bigger opponents and they win.
Zambia can not stand alone and face China or any other larger organization hence in unity there is power Africa’s future is in unity.
This fool cannot even support local business, he went and printed PF T-shirts like he wants to dress all of Africa. What a power hungry chap