By Dr Masimba Mavaza | H.E. President Dr ED Mnangagwa Co-chaired a breakfast meeting with Friends of the African Continental Free Trade Area, the world’s largest.
The meeting is looking at how PPPs can help implementation of AfCFTA. Other co-chairs are Heads of State of Botswana, Namibia, Rwanda & Nigeria. The African continental Free Trade Area is poised to be the largest trading bloc consolidating Africa’s intra trade.
Zimbabwe President arrived in Davos Switzerland where he marks his third attendance to the World Economic Forum.
This comes after two years of absence due to the global pandemic which has brought the World’s economy on to it nose.
Contrary to the detractors the president went straight into business in a trip meant to put Zimbabwe within reach of the global economic arena.
Members of the opposition took turns to write on Twitter criticising the president for attending this Forum.
What is obviously missing from the opposition shallow thinking is the understanding of the World Economic Forum.
The World Economic Forum was founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, a business professor at the University of Geneva. First named the European Management Forum, it changed its name to the World Economic Forum in 1987 and sought to broaden its vision to include providing a platform for resolving international conflicts. The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, which is mostly funded by its 1,000 member companies – typically global enterprises with more than five billion US dollars in turnover – as well as public subsidies, views its own mission as “improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.
The German economist Klaus Schwab first brought together 450 leaders for what was then called the European Management Symposium.
Schwab was a professor at the University of Geneva when he asked business leaders from around the continent to discuss how they were competing in a global marketplace, particularly against American firms. The European Management Forum, the group supervising the meeting, was based in the city of Chur—but Schwab chose Davos, a place otherwise known for skiing, as the site of the gathering since then Davos became the base of this global meeting which brings together politicians, business people and academicians alike.
The World Economic Forum again brings together the forces of the world at Davos, and from this Forum countries hope to bring out the best for each country for the benefit of the globe.
It is the first time the Forum
is meeting in springtime rather than January – when it is traditionally held – for the first time, having been postponed on multiple occasions because of COVID-19 pandemic.
In its 50-year history, the WEF has never been confronted with such unprecedented global issues as it now faces in 2022, as the world recovers from a global pandemic, grapples to contain the devastating impact of the climate crisis, and navigates a geopolitical storm following the invasion of Ukraine.
Børge Brende, President of the WEF, said in a pre-event briefing.
“Global challenges need global solutions, and we’re not seeing these global solutions and that’s where we have to push at Davos”.
This sets the tone of the forum and cuts right through the fifty years of existence.
In the breakfast meeting today President MNANGAGWA emphasised a push towards a made in Africa revolution boosting Africa’s regional value chains. The AfCFTA is much more than a trade agreement. It is an instrument for Africa’s development. The stake holders made commitments to drive the continent’s integration and the unity of purpose. In the side lines of the forum the AfCFTA channeled ways to achieve regional value chains thereby laying foundations for a Made in Africa Revolution.
As African economies seek to move away from being suppliers of raw materials to the rest of the world and towards trading more value-added products with each other, developing RVCs will enable countries to combine their comparative and competitive advantages to participate in industries from which they would otherwise be excluded. Africa is becoming Stake holders and not subjects.
“The ability for the AfCFTA to drive this transformation in Africa is partly The president urged African countries to achieve a successful transition from current inward-looking approaches to trade and investment towards the strengthening of RVCs where different segments of the industry VCs are located across the region reflecting local comparative advantage.
The World Economic Forum and AfCFTA aim to help governments target sectors that can benefit from their country’s entry into the AfCFTA and market players to better understand where they should invest. It also offers views from industry players running exporting enterprises in some of the value chains identified, all in the service of creating a Made in Africa revolution.
ZIMBABWE will not be left behind in claiming a position in the global market. The African Continental Free Trade Area is an ambitious trade pact to form the world’s largest free trade area by connecting almost 1.3bn people across 54 African countries. It is this platform that Zimbabwe seek to benefit it’s worthy.
The breakfast meeting which was chaired by the president sought to enforce an agreement to create a single market for goods and services in order to deepen the economic integration of Africa. The trade area could have a combined gross domestic product of around $3.4 trillion, but achieving its full potential depends on significant policy reforms and trade facilitation measures across African signatory nations.The AfCFTA aims to reduce tariffs among members and covers policy areas such as trade facilitation and services, as well as regulatory measures such as sanitary standards and technical barriers to trade. Zimbabwe stands to benefit from this years Forum and thanks to the President Zimbabwe will have a double benefit from this years World Economic Forum.