Africa has the vast resources and other potential to become a major world’s economic bloc but there is need for urgent collaborative efforts by governments and private sector stakeholders to unlock the full potential of the continent.
At the Intra-Africa Trade Fair 2023 in Cairo, Egypt, the need for Africa to unite, prioritise its growth and remove self-imposed barriers to realise its industrialisation ambitions was a major theme of the discource.
Speaking on realising Africa’s growth agenda through the energy transition, Executive Director, Oando Plc and Chief Operating Officer, Oando Energy Resources, Dr. Ainojie Irune called on governments to grow impatient about developing the continent.
In a session with the theme: African Energy Transition and African Industrialisation, Irune said Africa is truly blessed across the entire value chain and has everything needed to ensure that the energy transition for Africa serves its people.
He stressed the need for governments to collaborate between regions and establish the required policies internally and externally to drive; not just trade, but the development of industries that would create the wealth the continent need to embark on the energy transition.
According to him, Africa is the final frontier and it has a responsibility to design what it desires.
“Africa is home to 39 per cent of the world’s renewable energy potential, yet is impoverished. A continent that is unable to feed its people, educate its people, must think, first, about survival, just like the rest of the world. So, we must get impatient about developing our continent together,” Irune said.
He pointed out the challenges of intra-Africa trade and preferred solutions to foster regional cooperation, noting that regional cooperation in Africa is important and must be given the required attention.
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“We talk about collaboration, yet as we speak today, we haven’t dealt with the issue of intra-Africa travel for tourism, nor business. To challenge the current tide against us, we have to look within, starting from our governance and policies. If we come together and throw our weight behind our agenda as a continent, we would become a powerful bloc to be reckoned with across the world. We need to build a consciousness that recognises the fact that everything we require to develop Africa is already within,” Irune said.
He pointed out that intra-African trade currently accounts for only 15 per cent of the continent’s total trade, compared to 58 per cent in Asia and 67 per cent in Europe, noting that as the new continental market emerges with opportunities, those opportunities will not be to the benefit of Africans if African markets are not connected to create economies of scale.
It is now generally agreed that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) presents Africa with an efficient shock absorber to the volatile global economy. Intra-African trade, in turn, provides the continent with an opportunity to accelerate its individual and collective efforts as governments, policy-makers, development institutions, corporate organisations and SMEs towards the realisation of the goals of the AfCFTA.
The AfCFTA is expected to boost intra-African trade by 52.3 per cent by 2025, increase Africa’s income by up to $450 billion by 2035, according to the IMF, and lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty.