PSFU calls on AU to speed up Continental Free Trade non-tariff barriers
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Private Sector Foundation (PSFU), Mr Stephen Asiimwe. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Ms Grace Nabukwasi, the director training and membership development at Uganda Customs Union Agents Freight Forwarders Association, urged business people in the country to do right things at the right time professionally with integrity to penetrate other markets.
The Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) has called on continental body Africa Union to speed up the process of establishing a non-tariff barrier to both trade and free movement of people under the recently endorsed Africa Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA).
The African Continental Free Trade Area is an ambitious trade pact to form the world's largest free trade area by connecting almost 1.3 billion people across 54 African countries.
The agreement aims to create a single market for goods and services in order to deepen the economic integration of Africa.
This call was sounded by Mr Steven Asiimwe, the Chief Executive Officer of PSFU while closing a training season for Federation of Uganda Customs, Agents Freight Forwarders Association on how they can tap into this free trade area.
“AU should bring all countries on board for speedy negotiations that leads to removal of non-tariff barriers such that there will be free movement of goods and services,” he said.
According to Mr Asiimwe, AU should start embarking on putting in place a continental transport network systems like building of a continental Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to boost logistics and one single currency.
Mr Asiimwe also called for an establishment of a single unifying language in Africa in order to ease communication while transacting business under this ACFTA agreement.
Mr Asimwe urged African governments and relevant authorities also come up a single political union so as to address matters of political instability across the continent as this affects trade.
Ms Grace Nabukwasi, the director training and membership development at Uganda Customs Union Agents Freight Forwarders Association, urged business people in the country to do right things at the right time professionally with integrity to penetrate other markets.
“We must work on our standards, integrity, accuracy, customer care work ethics and deliver in time so as to benefit from this trade pact as our goods will be demanded,” she said.
