The Philippines should explore more trade opportunities with Africa to boost economic activity, a top official of World Trade Center Accra said during the WTCA General Assembly in Ghana.
“Potential sectors for investment in Africa include agriculture, agro-tech, food processing, manufacturing, mining, power and energy, and information and communications technology, among others,” the WTCA director Edem Kofi Yevutsey said.
This will be boosted by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which Yevutsey said comprised of the largest free trade area in the world.
The AfCFTA aims to create more opportunities for cross-border trade and investment between Asia and Africa by diversifying African exports, strengthening its integration into the global economy and attracting more foreign direct investments.
These could also create business opportunities and expansions to boost Africa’s economy.
“The overall mandate of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market that represents a GDP (gross domestic product) of $12.7 trillion. Macro trends in four key sectors — automotive, agriculture and agro-processing; pharmaceuticals and transport and logistics — and across Africa’s growth potential as a whole reveal tremendous opportunities for business expansion as population, income and connectivity are on the rise,” said Yevutsey.
At present, Africa’s main Asian trading partners are China, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Vietnam.
Last month, the Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA) senior undersecretary Domingo Panganiban and South African Ambassador to the Philippines Bartinah Ntombizodwa Radebe-Netshitenzhe discussed potential areas for agricultural cooperation.
Among the issues discussed during their meeting was the DA’s final draft of the proposed memorandum of understanding covering technical cooperation in agriculture between the Philippines and South Africa.
Panganiban also encouraged South Africa to import the Philippine products such as tuna, sardines, coconut oil, mangoes, bananas and other tropical fruits.
