THE government has challenged the private sector to produce high quality goods at low costs to compete in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market.

Deputy Minister for Investment, Industry and Trade, Mr Exaud Kigahe made the remarks on Monday at the opening of a three-day workshop on a capacity building programme for the private sector in Dar es Salaam to grasp AfCFTA opportunities.

“This market is likely to create trade competition, so I urge you to ensure that we continue to produce high quality products that will be able to enter other African countries and encourage market competition,” he said.

The workshop was organised by TradeMark Africa. He said the government is committed to creating a friendly environment by ensuring the availability of reliable and affordable electricity which is fundamental in producing goods at low cost.

He also said the government is in the process of conducting a comprehensive analysis of the AfCFTA agreement on the country’s economy and preparing the national AfCFTA charter.

“Recognizing the importance of the AfCFTA agreement, the government has engaged various experts to obtain information and stakeholders views on the implementation of the agreement,” said Kigahe.

He added, “The strategy will help us to organize ourselves as a country to ensure that we take full advantage of the AfCFTA agreement opportunities,” He said the AfCFTA market was an opportunity that could be used by Tanzanians to attract investors who would produce their products and sell them on the local market and the AfCFTA market.

It will comprise AfCFTA issues and the workshop will provide the required capacity for the private sector to participate and intervene in AfCFTA issues at national, regional or continental levels.

It will also assist the private sector come up with National and continent-wide strategies for harnessing opportunities arising from the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement.

On her part TMA Country Director, Monica Hangi said the objective of the workshop is to enable the Tanzanian private sector to have an understanding and appreciation of the AfCFTA Agreement and take advantage of it.

AfCFTA representative, Dr Halima Noor said AfCFTA has stimulated a lot of trade potential in Africa that could see the continent significantly improve its intra-trade levels, thereby boosting the economic welfare of Africans.

Tanzania became the 39th country in Africa to deposit its instrument of ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (“AfCFTA”) on 9 September 2021.

Of the East African Community (“EAC”) member countries Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi had already ratified the agreement earlier, and with Tanzania now being a signatory, it is now only South Sudan that has not ratified the agreement as yet.

Read original article

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.