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Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the media in Africa have been urged to form stronger partnerships to ensure that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) objectives are fully achieved to transform the economy of countries on the continent.
The Head of Policy Influencing and Advocacy of the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WASCI), Omolara Balogun, made the call at a press briefing in Accra last Monday. He further called on CSOs and the media to ensure that while promoting the AfCFTA, the partnership is broadened to include entrenching democratic values in countries, particularly in the West Africa sub-region to promote peace and security which are a prerequisite for any meaningful development.
“You would agree with me that there is no region, there is no country that can be fully developed without experiencing a transformative economy. It is important, and one of the ways is to ensure that this kind of trading agreement across the countries, across the continent takes place,” she stressed.
The press briefing comes ahead of a side event on the theme: “The role of CSOs in advancing the implementation of the AfCFTA," scheduled to take place in Accra on Saturday, July 20, 2024.
The event is to, among other things, underscore the vital contributions of CSOs to the successful implementation of the AfCFTA.
Key topics to be discussed by stakeholders include advocacy, policy analysis and equitable distribution, equipping CSOs with the knowledge and tools to effectively support AfCFTA's objectives.
The event will also serve as a platform to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC).
The organisation was established in July 2004 as an advisory organ composed of African Union member states' social and professional groups.
“I'm sure the media will agree that our democracy, not only in West Africa and the USA, across the continent, is at a crossroads. We are having a lot of threats in addition to the longstanding threats to democracy across West Africa,” Ms Balogun stated.
She said it was time for countries, people and CSOs to lead their development agenda, stressing that, “We are talking about promoting locally led development initiatives, strengthening local organisations, community-based organisations, local youth networks including faith-based organisations, and other informal groups”.
She explained that one of the ways to achieve development was to help identify barriers to democracy to deepen its values across the sub-region.
“We envision a West Africa where its citizens can champion their development initiative. To achieve this, we have to invest our time, our resources, our energy, the partnerships that we have and the knowledge to ensure that civil society becomes resilient, influential, representative, and able to deliver on its various mandates as a technical sector, including holding governments accountable and ensuring they practise democracy as it should be,” Ms Balogun added.
For her part, the Head of Communications and Information, WASCI, Meron Dagnew, said that the AfCFTA protocols represented a transformative opportunity for economic integration and growth and aligned with ECOSOCC’s mission to foster inclusive policies and development.
“However there remains a critical gap in the engagement of CSOs in the AfCFTA dialogue. While the framework of AfCFTA offers immense potential, the involvement of CSOs has been very limited, and their vital role in advocacy, policy shaping and implementation has also reduced” she stated.
Other speakers included the Head of Programmes, ECOSOCC Secretariat, Osei Kyeretwie, and the Deputy Director, AfCFTA Policy Network, Emmanuel Bensah, who also addressed the media.
