Eino Vatileni in South Africa
Namibia representatives to the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Alpheus !Naruseb and Rodney Cloete have voiced strong support for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), urging African countries to accelerate reforms that will remove trade barriers, strengthen regional integration and ensure the agreement delivers tangible benefits for businesses and citizens.
The duo made their contributions during the debate on the ‘Report of the Assessment Mission on the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Guided Trade Initiative by the Republic of Ghana and Advocacy for the Ratification of the AU Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons’ at the First Ordinary Session of the Seventh Pan-African Parliament currently underway in Midrand, South Africa.
!Naruseb said the AfCFTA is steadily transitioning from a continental aspiration to practical implementation and offers significant opportunities for Africa’s economic transformation.
“As one of the African Union’s flagship projects under Agenda 2063, the AfCFTA offers a practical pathway towards expanding intra-African trade, strengthening regional value chains, promoting industrialisation, attracting investment and creating sustainable employment opportunities across our continent,” he said.
Referring to the report, !Naruseb described Ghana’s experience under the Guided Trade Initiative as encouraging, saying it demonstrates that political commitment, effective institutions and support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can unlock new markets and drive economic growth.
He, however, cautioned that delays in tariff liberalisation, inadequate transport and logistics infrastructure, non-tariff barriers and fragmented regulatory systems continue to impede seamless intra-African trade.
“As parliamentarians, our responsibility extends beyond adopting continental instruments. We must exercise effective oversight, strengthen legislative frameworks that advance intra-African trade and economic integration, and ensure that the commitments made under the AfCFTA are translated into tangible benefits for our citizens, particularly women, youth and small enterprises,” !Naruseb said.
Supporting the report, Cloete said the assessment mission to Ghana confirms that AfCFTA trade has progressed beyond policy commitments to actual commercial transactions.
“The Ghana mission confirms that AfCFTA trade has moved from agreement to actual transactions. Ghana has the principal instruments in place, and its SMEs have exported through the framework,” he said.
Cloete, who headed the delegation of the committee on Trade, customs and Immigration to Ghana said that the report demonstrates that legal readiness alone is insufficient to unlock the full benefits of the agreement.
“Traders still face expensive finance, duplicate product approvals, uneven standards and infrastructure constraints. At Noepe-Akanu, coordinated border procedures reduced delays, but the facility still needs equipment, digital systems, utilities and data-sharing,” he said.
He endorsed the recommendation for a country-by-country implementation tracker to monitor tariff schedules, rules of origin, actual AfCFTA trade, non-tariff barriers, border readiness and progress on the AU Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons.
“African trade will become meaningful when an SME can obtain finance, secure one credible certification, cross a functioning border and reach another African market at a predictable cost,” Cloete said.
REPORT RECOMEMDATIONS
The report calls on African Union member states to prioritise investment in ports, roads and railways to improve connectivity, facilitate trade and address infrastructure gaps that hinder the implementation of the AfCFTA.
It also urges Ghana to ratify and domesticate the AU Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, while encouraging the PAP and Member States to promote and adopt the PAP Model Law on Labour Migration to support safe and rights-based labour mobility.
The report has been adopted by the house.
*Eino Vatileni works in the Department of Research and Editorial Services at Parliament.
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