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Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister, Chipoka Mulenga, has called for a common voice for African countries in fostering the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) partnership with the United States (US).
Mulenga stressed the importance for Africa to support each other and stand together as one continent with one goal of transforming its economy through the collaborative efforts of partners such as the US.
He said this on Friday on the side-lines of the high-level Ministerial Meeting of the 20th AGOA Forum which is taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa.
AGOA is a mutually-beneficial trade and investment partnership that benefits both the African eligible countries and the US and has fostered the development of regional value chains among eligible countries, thereby contributing towards enhancing intra-Africa trade and development.
Mulenga was optimistic that working together for the betterment of Africa would play a key role in transforming the continent.
“If Africa wants to do business with the rest of the world, we need to work together as one. One country can’t do business on its own.
“Some countries may be going through different challenges such as sanctions, cultural beliefs, political upheavals, among others but we still need to move in one direction as Africa,” Mulenga said.
He said President Hakainde Hichilema, who was the Chairperson for Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), wanted Africa to unite and work together because trade and investment play a key role in the promotion of economic development.
Mulenga was happy that the private sector was taking part at the AGOA forum and the exhibition.
At the same function, Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Mazuba Monze, said she was happy that the private sector was also taking part because the AGOA Forum had created an opportunity for the private sector to sell and show what Zambia had to offer.
“The the private sector helps to create job opportunities, contributes positively to the economy, offers multiple paths for companies to grow, and also helps to improve relationships between stakeholders and contributes to the economic development of the country,” Monze said.
The theme of this year’s Forum is “partnering to build a resilient, sustainable and an inclusive AGOA to support economic development, industrialisation, and quality job creation.”
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