News:
October 31, 2019
Mr Yaw Afful, Country Director for African Continental Free Trade Area – AFCFTA, Policy Network Ghana and Diaspora, an international non-governmental organisation said there is no way the Continental Free Trade Area agreement would thrive without the media.
According to him, the African Union has made it clear that the media is going to be key in the implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area agreement, “the media is our partner”.
“We need one voice so that we can get back to the AU, what you say is what we would put together as a communiqué”.
He made this remarks at a day’s symposium for the media in Accra to educate and train them ahead of signing the phase two of the Continental Free Trade Area agreement next year.
In addition, he emphasised the need for the ordinary Ghanaian to be provided with information as there would be free movement of people, “so that when people get to some territories people do not think there is influx of people where xenophobia and other things would set in”.
Again, competition is setting in, and people need to know they can export their skills, they should know most visas had been waived through the agreement, and that you can go to another African country without a visa, people might not know they need to know through the media.
World Bank has given about forty million dollars to Ghana in the tourism sector, but we are not taping into it, why, because the tourism Ministry does not have many technical experts to draft serious tourism models.
“Our network has one hundred and forty-eight members over the globe, we are prepared to provide policy documents to them”.
He noted that phase two of the agreement has to do with international property rights and investments. This, has to be negotiated with the involvement of the private sector, but that is not to be, instead government is going to do the negociation.
“It is a problem, because the voices of the people would not be put out there as to what they want”.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com