Wamkele Mene, the Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, has urged African nations to use the trade pact's platform to establish regional trade networks and global connections.
He said that this would allow their markets to improve supply chain resilience and lessen dependency on external markets.
"The COVID-19 epidemic has presented us with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to take decisive steps toward a robust, inclusive, and long-term economic recovery."
"With the AfCFTA, Africa now has a vital tool to help nations turn internally for solutions to their COVID-19 economic difficulties," he stated on May 17 in Accra at the start of the 13th World Trade Promotion Organizations (WTPO) conference.
The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) are hosting a two-day event with the topic "Bold Solutions for Resilience and Recovery."
Mr Mene remarked that the meeting took place while nations recovered from the epidemic, which he said had affected economies, produced the worst recession in over 25 years, and delayed important progress in decreasing poverty in Africa.
"Indications suggest that recovery will be a long and difficult process, as many unpredictable and shifting elements remain, including the Russia-Ukraine war, which has raised fresh concerns."
He stated, "Now is the moment to reconstruct our economy and safeguard Africa's future." Consolidate your achievements.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said in a speech read on his behalf by Minister of Trade and Industry Alan Kyerematen that the government would continue to work hard to address the issues the country faced in order to get back on track following the hard knocks suffered from the post-COVID-19 pandemic and Russian-Ukraine adversities.
He stated that it will implement challenging but essential fiscal policies and actions in order to consolidate budgetary gains gained the previous year and generate greater growth rates in order to create more employment possibilities.
"In the first three quarters of 2021, Ghana's GDP grew at a preliminary pace of 5.2 percent. My administration has established a variety of policies and programs over the last year to help us recover faster from the recession.
We've put in place measures to help with budgetary consolidation and debt sustainability.
"I am certain that the execution of the government's GH100 billion Ghana CARES Obaatanpa Program would promote a speedier recovery for micro, small, and medium companies (MSMEs)," he stated.
Small and medium companies (SMEs) have been harmed in the previous two years, according to Pamela Coke-Hamilton, the ITC's Executive Director.
As a result, trade promotion organizations (TPOs) needed to study the difficulties and come up with strategies to improve the long-term effect for sustainable growth and development.
COVID patterns, climate change, and the Russia-Ukraine war, she added, have global ramifications in terms of food security, finance, and fuel costs.
"These are all big advancements that have overwhelmed us, and we won't be able to equal them if we take them all in at once." So it's about tearing them down, dismantling them, and looking at strategic ways in which TPOS, like yourselves, can genuinely assist SMEs in surviving," she explained.