Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto paid a historic visit to the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in the Ghanaian capital on Wednesday, lauding the secretariat for its path of implementation so far.
Ruto who is on a state visit to Ghana, visited the secretariat to receive a briefing from AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene on the progress of the implementation of the free trade agreement and explore further opportunities available for Kenya under the agreement.
The visit was also expected to cement further, the working relationship between William Ruto and the secretariat led by Wamkele Mene.”
The Kenyan president expressed satisfaction at the progress made in laying the foundation and operationalizing the AfCFTA Secretariat under very difficult circumstances, at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
“I commend your relentless efforts in successfully steering the phase one and phase two negotiations for trade in goods and services. I urge you to stay the course and conclude the remaining ones and also oversee their implementation,” he stated.
Ruto lauded the secretary-general for his personal efforts and sacrifices, including relocating to Ghana with his entire family during the COVID-19 pandemic, just to ensure that the vision of the continent to establish the largest trade area in the world, started on the right footing.
He also commended Ghana for providing the necessary support and leadership in ensuring the setting up of the secretariat with the necessary logistics in place to make it functional, especially given the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The AfCFTA is a promise to the people of Africa to ensure that no one is left behind in development. It drives the continent towards integration, political stability and unity based on the ideals of our founding fathers and the vision of Africa’s essence,” said Ruto.
Despite the low volume of intra-African trade of about 15 percent, Ruto said, “It is not where we now, but the potential that exists for us to grow our trade.”
The Kenyan president, also the African Union (AU) Champion for institutional reforms, urged the secretariat of the AfCFTA to promote digitalization as a key driver of free trade in Africa.
“Technology democratizes opportunity; technology improves efficiency; technology improves accountability; and therefore, technology is going to dictate the pace at which we move our goods, our services, our products, and our progress,” the Kenyan president stressed.
He added that technology would accelerate the realization of the goals of AfCFTA and create prosperity that leaves nobody behind and shared prosperity that brings on board the majority of the people.
I want to encourage the AfCFTA to work with each of the agencies of the African Union (AU) in leveraging technology to accelerate the movement of goods and services across our countries and accelerate progress in all other fields, urged Ruto.
For his personal role, the Kenyan president pledged to collaborate with Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the champion of AU financial institutions, to build the necessary financial ecosystem to support trade, investment, and business in Africa.
Welcoming President Ruto, AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said the continental free trade agreement presents Africa with an unprecedented opportunity to break the legacy of colonialism.
In that regard, Mene said, despite the achievements over the past four years, there is a lot more to do to accelerate the implementation of free trade on the continent.
The AfCFTA Secretary-General lauded Kenya for being one of the countries playing the leading advocacy roles for the successful implementation of AfCFTA and being one of the first countries to trade under the AfCFTA-guided trade initiative, exporting value-added products to Ghana, Nigeria, and other parts of Africa.