‘Dar ready for AfCFTA market’

TANZANIA is ready to trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)’s Guided Trade Initiative to benefit from what will be the world’s largest free trade area when it is fully implemented.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, Ally Gugu said they rolled out awareness campaign for businesses

interested in importing intermediary inputs or exporting products to the continent through the AfCFTA Guide Trade Initiative.

“The AfCFTA Agreement is a clear testimony that the African states have committed to doing more trade and investment among themselves,” Mr Gugu said at a workshop on AfCFTA Agreement on Trade in Goods Protocol in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary lauded President Samia Suluhu Hassan for her stewardship and for championing the AfCFTA Youth and Women Protocol.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary said the Ministry has developed the National Implementation strategy for AfCFTA which will be validated by the private sector.

EABC Chairperson, Angelina Ngalula represented by Mr Raphael Maganga, EABC Goodwill Ambassador said Tanzania’s exports to Africa hit 2.5 billion US dollars in 2021 increasing by 13 per cent from 2020 while imports stood at 1.2 billion US dollars.

Tanzania has great potential to export rice, sacks for packing, and kraft paper to the continent. In particular, Tanzania has an untapped potential of 136 million US dollars  from the export of rice alone to the continent.

In her speech, the Chairperson elaborated that under AfCFTA, transport services Tanzania has the potential to increase by nearly 50 per cent. Over 25 per cent of intra-African trade gains in all services liberalised under AfCFTA will go to transport alone and nearly 40 per cent of the increase in African services will be in the transport sector.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Investment, Industry and Trade, Dr Ashatu Kijaji, challenged Kioo Limited to eye and produce goods that meet the AfCFTA market standards after she visited the factory yesterday.

The Kioo General Manager, Mr Kumar Krishnan, told the minister that the factory is ready to tap the glass market under AfCFTA because they have a capacity of producing more than one million bottles per day sufficient for local and international customers.

Kioo also said 40 per cent of its glass bottles are made out of recycled material.