Moghalu predicts AfCFTA will lift 30m Nigerians, Africans out of poverty by 2035

Former presidential aspirant, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has predicted that the African Continental Free Trade Area, (AfCFTA), would lift 30 million Africans, including Nigerians, out of poverty by 2035.

Moghalu who is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Advisory Board at the Africa Private Sector Summit, disclosed this while speaking at the AfCFTA Joint Private Sector Session during the 2023 Afreximbank Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday.

The ex-Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), noted that when fully implemented, AfCFTA would boost intra-African trade by 52%, lift 30 million people out of poverty, and increase the continent’s GDP by USD 450 billion by 2035.

He, however, cautioned that AfCTA targets cannot be achieved without the private sector, noting that it’s not only African governments that have signed and ratified the AfCFTA accord, but companies and business enterprises that trade across should key into the programme.

“It is no accident that these continents are the wealthiest in the world: 70% of Europe’s trade is within Europe. 59% of Asia’s, and 30% of North America’s trade is intra-regional. In contrast, only 16% of Africa’s global trade is within Africa,” he said.

“This means that the African private sector must be strengthened to leverage the provisions and protocols of the AfCFTA to expand intra-African trade to create prosperity.

“Two critical conditions must be met. The first is an understanding across all stakeholder groups of the balance between the state and the markets in wealth creation.

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“While it ultimately is the private sector that will directly unlock prosperity for Africa, and Africans are broadly enterprising people, the truth is that without effective governments, governance and public policy, they can’t. Every prosperous country has a competent, effective state as a backdrop,” he stated.

The economist emphasized the necessity of adopting the Private Sector Bill of Rights (PSBoR) as a complementary instrument alongside the Regional Economic Communities, RECs and AfCFTA to shape the desired future for Africa, which, according to him, is critical in fostering economic growth, combating poverty, and positioning Africa as a thriving business hub.

“We will seek adoption by national parliaments and/or the Executive branches of government. We are walking a similar path as that which led to the successful adoption of the AfCFTA.

“The specific rights identified in the Private Sector Bill of Rights come from the protocols of the RECs and AfCFTA. The PSBoR is intended as an essential companion instrument to the AfCFTA treaty, one that domesticates the continental trade agreement inside national governments, private sector governing and coordinating entities, and in the operations of the African marketplace in reality.

“I believe that the Private Sector Bill of Rights when adopted by African countries and alongside the RECs and AfCFTA, addresses a fundamental conundrum that has confronted post-colonial Africa for decades.

“Why have market-oriented economies created broad-based wealth in Europe, North America and increasingly in Asia but poverty remains high in the vast majority of African countries? Breaking this jinx is the goal of the AfCFTA and the African Union’s vision 2063 – The Africa We Want,” he said.

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