Local manufacturers in Ghana will soon be faced with stiff competition if the Continental Free Trade Agreement is implemented.
Local manufacturers will be expected to meet continental demands and their inability to do that means other manufacturers from other countries on the continent will beat them to the competition.
The Continental Free Trade Agreement which is expected to be implemented by the end of 2019, will allow for a single continental market for goods and services with free movement of businesses and investments and also pave way for accelerating the establishment of the Continental Union and the African Customs Union.
On the rules of origin by the Continental Free Trade Agreement, the agreement states: “The class of goods that will be considered as originating in the other party or parties of the FTA and therefore eligible for preferential tariff treatment. These are goods that are wholly obtained, wholly produced or substantially transformed..â€
The Deputy Trade Minister, Carlos Ahenkora cautioned the local manufacturers to position themselves very well to take advantage of the agreement.
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According to him, the manufacturers have from now till the implementation of the Continental Free Trade Agreement to take the needed steps in playing well in the upcoming competition.
“Which we expect to come onstream this year……this corporation is also going to better as far as African countries are concerned, here I will like to sound a word of caution especially to our manufacturers in Ghana to be wary of this particular protocol we have signed and ratified
“Because when that happens people in Morocco, Tunisia will have access to send their goods to Ghana quota-free, duty free and we must be ready to reciprocate anything that goes with being able to export your goods outside Ghana must be considered now we are very hopeful that before the end of 2019 the CFT will come onstream,†he added