By Tione Andsen
Lilongwe, February 17, Mana: Government has said African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has potential to deepen and expand the country’s trade from the current low base.
Vice President, Dr Saulos Chilima made the remarks Thursday when he officially opened 2022 CISANET Agricultural Policy Conference under the theme “The African Continental Free Trade Area: Opportunities, Threats and Challenges for Agriculture in Malawi” at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.
He said this was the time that farmers, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), telecommunication companies, private sector need to rally around and join forces to make this possible.
“We need all hands on deck to continuously identify opportunities, jointly resolve the challenges, and bring solutions to the table. Let me challenge this conference to brainstorm on what are the key innovative strategies for the country to effectively implement the AfCFTA,” Chilima stated.
He said AfCFTA agreement could only be meaningful to us if we sell more and make tangible strides with the targets set through the country’s National Export Strategy II.
The Vice President said time to lament on the trade imbalance is long gone and the country should strive towards harnessing these opportunities.
“We, cannot continue to be a consuming country! Malawi is home to over 18 million people. Eight out of every 10 people depend on Agriculture for their livelihoods. Now, the traditional agriculture that we have talked about for many years back has changed and continues to change. We must not be stuck in the past when the world is embracing modern agricultural practices,” Chilima viewed.
He observed that today’s agriculture, has to meet quality standards, desired value added products, was looking for women and youth to actively engage in it across a range of value chains, and requires robust Information Communication Technology (ICT) systems.
Chilima added that government was working towards reversing the trade deficit and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2021 with the Republic of South Sudan to access a US$295 million market for Maize flour among other products.
He said this is a great opportunity for the maize value chain that we have struggled to sell profitably and this was the beginning of a start of many export markets that we must pursue and private sector must surely come on board to drive this.
He recognize development partners and organizations for their unwavering support to CISANET over the last five years which significantly contributed to the growth of it.
The recognized development partners and organizations were United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union (EU), Department for International Development (DfID), WHH, OXFAM in Malawi, CARE in Malawi, Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Food Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), Africa Institute for Corporate Citizenship (AICC), National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM) and Concern World Wide (CWW).
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Madalitso Wirima said as country have opportunity to improve on reginal integration aim at create economic independence. She said this could be achieve through regional trade and investment in agriculture.
USAID Mission Director, Dr Caite Lott said Africa has huge market potential to grow due to its size.
She viewed AfCFTA agreement need to be used to fullest in order to improve trade and investment
Board Char for CISANET, Dr Felix Lombe said the conference would provide an opportunity to stakeholders to come up with viable strategies in order to participate in the implementation of AfCFTA agreement.
