Africa must stop exporting raw materials, says AfCFTA

Africa must stop exporting raw materials and instead focus on adding value to its natural resources if it is to fully harness the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, Patience Okala, said this on Thursday at the Streamsowers & Köhn 20th Anniversary Business Forum, where she stressed that value addition and beneficiation are essential to Africa’s industrialisation and long-term economic growth.

According to a statement issued on Friday by the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, she said the AfCFTA goes beyond the elimination of tariffs, serving as a framework for industrialisation, value addition, and job creation across the continent.

“AfCFTA is not only about tariffs; it is also about value addition. Africa has to stop exporting raw materials. We need to add value and ensure that beneficiation is done on the continent,” she said.

Okala also said Africa’s economic transformation would depend on the effective implementation of the AfCFTA rather than on the signing of trade agreements alone.

“We have moved beyond negotiations. The success of AfCFTA will be measured by the extent to which businesses can access new markets, trade seamlessly across borders, and benefit from the opportunities created by the agreement,” she said.

She noted that Nigeria had intensified efforts to implement the agreement under the leadership of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, including the development of simplified AfCFTA guides in six languages to help businesses understand and take advantage of opportunities under the trade pact.

Okala called for stronger collaboration among governments, regulators, and the private sector to eliminate barriers to trade and investment and build a truly integrated African market.

“As we move from policy to implementation, our collective responsibility is to ensure that the opportunities created by AfCFTA become practical realities for businesses, particularly MSMEs, women-owned enterprises, and young entrepreneurs across the continent,” she said.