Pull down the walls, African leaders told

Speaking out. The president of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, speaks at the opening of the 25th annual meeting of the continental bank in Equatorial Guinea on June 12, 2019. PHOTO BY EDGAR R. BATTE

What you need to know:

  • To ease movement, East Africa introduced a single visa for tourists coming into the region. A tourist does not have to apply for a visa for all the countries. They just need to pay for a single East African visa.
  • Recently, an East African passport was introduced which will be utilised by all citizens of the region internally and internationally.

The annual African Development Bank meeting took place this past week in Equatorial Guinea with the key subject of discussion, as is evident in the theme of the meetings - Regional Integration for Africa’s economic prosperity – being integration.
“To integrate Africa, bring down the walls,” said Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the president of African Development Bank (AfDB), at the opening of the 25th annual meeting of the continental bank.

Dr Adesina urged African governments to work towards the elimination of non-tariff barriers, saying ‘pulling down’ non-tariff barriers alone will spur trade by at least 53 per cent, and potentially double trade.
According to the East African Community (EAC), the internal EAC market has about 146 million consumers, while the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) comprises 20 member states with a population of more than 460 million.

Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Burundi are all members of Comesa.
The EAC was established in 1967 but collapsed along the way and was re-established in 2000. Its efforts play into the wider vision of the continental bank, now in its 55th year.
This year’s opening ceremony was presided over by the host nation’s president, Mr Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Also in attendance were King Letsie III of Lesotho; president Félix Antoine Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, the Prime Minister of Eswatini (Swaziland).

High-level government officials from Rwanda, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Côte d’Ivoire were also present.
The State minister of Finance, Dr Gabriel Ajedra Aridru, said integration is very important for easy movement of goods and services.
“It enhances trade, brings down the barriers between the countries but also promotes economic growth in terms of the patrons of the bodies that are there. For example, if you have the one-border post, clearance is at the border and you don’t have to do it again,” he explained.
More than 2,000 participants are attending the annual meetings, a unique opportunity to share the bank’s perspectives on the state of Africa’s economy.

The meetings also provide updates on the bank’s work and serves as a platform for the exchange of views on emerging issues shaping the future of the continent.
“We are committed to regional integration for shared prosperity. We count on the African Development Bank to help us achieve economic diversification and the consolidation of social equality,” Mr Aridru said.

Mr Ajedra, a temporary governor of the continental bank, observed that Uganda is making efforts to ensure investments across borders are carried out without any hindrance.
In light of recent developments, Uganda and Rwanda will have to iron out their political differences as a precursor to foster better trade, which has been affected by the closure of the Gatuna border.
“A divided Africa is weakened. Together and united, Africa will be unstoppable,” the bank’s president, Dr Adesina told delegates at the packed Sipopo Conference Centre.

Efforts by the EAC
To ease movement, East Africa introduced a single visa for tourists coming into the region. A tourist does not have to apply for a visa for all the countries. They just need to pay for a single East African visa.
At the continental level, the State minister for Finance is optimistic about the huge benefits that integration can accrue.
However, he decried the low trade among African countries.
“By having continental free trade, it will help us to trade among ourselves and also press down on the fact that we need to improve our infrastructure.

“For example, if we have to move goods from Uganda to Congo, it supposes that there is a road network where we can be able to move those very easily. In addition, if you have to transport people, let’s say by air, it means that there has to be regional flights between the capitals of the various countries,” he added.
On the economic growth front, the region is doing a lot of inter-connectivity in terms of power.

“We are going to be able to transport power between the various countries in the region. Infrastructure is also very important. We cannot have meaningful integration without having infrastructure improvements and hence we the eastern countries are implement the standard gauge railway in the various trade corridors,” Dr Ajedra said.
There is the central corridor, the border corridor as part of efforts to ease movement of goods, services and people. In terms of telecommunication, Dr Ajedra observes that the one-area network, have eased communication of people within East Africa.

Travels
Recently, an East African passport was introduced which will be utilised by all citizens of the region internally and internationally.
“There’s excitement in the air on Africa’s economic opportunities, and those opportunities are boundless. The newly ratified Africa Continental Free Trade Area will make Africa the largest free trade zone in the world, with a combined GDP of over $3.3 trillion,” Dr Adesina said.

For integration to make meaning, Dr Ajedra said the cost of doing business need to reduce. “There was a company in Nigeria that wanted some goods from East Africa and had to go all the way around to Cape Town. If there was rail transport, for example across Africa, the movement of goods and services would be easy and also reduce the cost of doing business generally in the whole of Africa,” he added.