{"id":113094,"date":"2026-01-29T05:02:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T05:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=113094"},"modified":"2026-01-29T05:02:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T05:02:57","slug":"afcfta-is-the-most-ambitious-integration-project-ever-in-africas-history-mahama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=113094","title":{"rendered":"AfCFTA\u00a0is the most ambitious integration project ever in Africa\u2019s history \u2013 Mahama"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The African Continental Free Trade Area is the most ambitious integration project ever in the history of the African continent, President John Mahama has said.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the Africa Trade Summit 2026 in Accra, President Mahama said industrial integration required market integration.<\/p>\n

The Africa Trade Summit 2026 is the continent\u2019s premier platform for advancing industrialisation, trade, and investment. <\/p>\n

Organised by the African Trade Chamber in partnership with the Government of Ghana, the Summit brings together decision-makers shaping Africa\u2019s economic transformation under the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the African Union\u2019s Agenda 2063.<\/p>\n

The President said by creating a single market of over 1.3 billion people, the African Continental Free Trade Area provides the scale African industry has long lacked to expand.<\/p>\n

He reiterated that it transformed Africa into a viable manufacturing and investment destination.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Ghana is proud to host the Secretariat of this continental body and to be among the early adopters of trading under its preferences,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the African Continental Free Trade Area will not automatically industrialise Africa. It must be deliberately linked to industrial policy, infrastructure investment, and enterprise development.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Mahama said reducing non-tariff barriers, simplifying customs procedures, improving logistics, and investing in digital trade infrastructure were essential if the African Continental Free Trade Area was to deliver on its promise.<\/p>\n

He said Ghana\u2019s experience reinforced key lessons, adding that industrialisation worked when policies were deliberate, infrastructure was reliable, skills were developed, and macroeconomic stability was maintained.<\/p>\n

The President said investments in transport, energy, and technical education were foundational.<\/p>\n

He noted that good governance was equally important.<\/p>\n

President Mahama said investor confidence thrived when institutions were strong and policies were predictable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrica\u2019s industrial transformation cannot be achieved solely by governments. Governments must provide leadership and stability. The private sector must invest and innovate,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinancial institutions must design long-term financing solutions. Development partners must align with Africa\u2019s priorities. And African institutions must coordinate and remove the barriers to integration.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Mahama urged his fellow African leaders to envision an Africa with thriving industrial corridors, integrated supply chains, and competitive factories that produce for both African and global markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn Africa where prosperity is shared, and opportunity is created at home. This vision is bold but achievable. What is required now is urgency and resolve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must move from declarations to delivery, from agreements to implementation, and from vision to construction.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"AfCFTA\u00a0isThe African Continental Free Trade Area is the most ambitious integration project ever in the history of the African continent, President John Mahama, has said.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4829,1972,111,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-afcfta","category-africa","category-mahama","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113094\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}