Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, the Chief Executive Officer of the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), has emphasized that the primary challenge in making the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) effective is not financial resources, but rather political will.
During her address at the 2025 Citi Business Forum, themed “The Global Tariffs Dispute: Navigating Ghana’s Recovery Strategy,” she pointed out that while African leaders are quick to endorse agreements like the AfCFTA, they often lag in supporting them with actionable local policies.
She questioned the prevalent notion that Africa’s biggest issue is a lack of funding.
In her view, African nations struggle to ensure that large multinational corporations adhere to tax laws consistently.
“I would argue that the real issue is political commitment. We sign agreements, but when it comes to implementing local policies and regulations, we face challenges. We often claim that we lack financial resources on the continent.
“The reality is that we do have funds, but they are misallocated. We have pension funds earning minimal interest rates parked in the US. When discussing illicit financial flows, we tend to focus on the money politicians are siphoning off.
“However, we fail to advocate for the funds that large international companies are extracting without paying their fair share in taxes. So, in my opinion, money is not the core issue,” she stated.
Source: HotFmOnline.com
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