By Jeff Kapembwa
A staggering US$6 billion to revitalize Africa’s economies decimated by COVID 19 and create resilience against future shocks has been mooted by two of continent’s major players with investments planned to support food and agriculture and technology enabled economies to accelerate sector economic recovery.
The four-year -African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and Equity Group Holdings initiative to run until 2025, the six-pillar pronged-master plan hopes to reverse losses in agriculture and other strategic sectors ultimately create over 50 million jobs by project end time.
With AfCFTA and other partners driving the agenda, dubbed: “Africa’s Recovery and Resilience Plan”- the post-COVID 19 initiative hopes to showcase a framework for socioeconomic transformation for the African people and to help catalyse a natural resources-led transformation of Africa.
The focus seeks to enhance agriculture output, formalising extractive value chains, and connecting these primary sectors to global supply chains seemingly broken when COVID 19 reigned-decimating various economies and requiring diversification and secured sourcing to bring the continent to competition speed with developed economies.
According to the AfCFTA and the Equity Group’s common understanding (MoU), the US$6 billion is hoped to revitalize the COVID 19 induced-downsized sectors in collaboration with the private sector to accelerate the economic recovery and resilience stimulus plan and other programs.
About 5 million will benefit the SMEs through lower-interest loans to spur growth. The revival and resilience plan is aimed at creating additional private sector lending with an envisaged loan book to be directed to agriculture (30%), manufacturing (15%), MSMEs (65%).
Arguably, beneficiaries will access project financing, trade enhancement and fund mobilized for accelerated realization of the regional integration plans. The funds will be accessed by utilizing AfCFTA tools of Agreement in collaboration with the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and other Africa’s development stakeholders, among others
AfCFTA Secretary General Wamkele is hopeful says the financing will prepare Africa’s revival and insulate the continent from future shocks and avert food shortages caused the pandemic and other calamities.
“We will be able to deliver on our respective mandates through complementarities of our expertise, skills, purpose, and vision, by taking special consideration of the interests of micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises, women-owned businesses, workers, and youth.” He says
Equity Group Holdings MD and CEO, Dr. James Mwangi, reiterated the Pan African largest lender’s commitment to create a leeway for the creation of wealth and resilience against shocks threatening the continent.
The six pillars are mooted around rebuilding Education and Leadership Development, Health, Food and Agriculture, Energy and the Environment, Financial Inclusion and Enterprise Development, and Social Protections which serve to leave no one behind in the recovery and resilience of the African continent, according to Dr. Mwangi.
