Rwanda High Commissioner to Ghana, Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira has called on African countries to encourage trading among themselves to boost living standards across the continent.

According to her, Africans must redirect spending to the continent to help foster stronger continental integration, the primary aim of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

She made the call during a Ghana-Rwanda Business Breakfast meeting in Accra.

“We have a unity of purpose and a unity of engagement. Everybody has an equal stake on the table. I think we are one of the most divided people on the planet, but today we must boast of unity. I think Africa probably has a history of the highest level of division, which has continued over sixty years on. It’s our choice to decide whether we want to remain divided or we choose to unite. We don’t want to just keep that in history, but we want to see it change our current state and our future. We want to see our women and youth work together to celebrate the new Africa that AfCFTA presents to us. This means that our trade and spending that creates income abroad must be redirected to create income here,” she said.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Samuel Dentu also advocated for increased trade relations between Ghana and Rwanda to improve the trade volumes between the two countries.

“Ghana and Rwanda have had minimal trade exchanges. Data available indicate that in 2018 and 2019, Ghana exported goods worth about over ten thousand dollars in 2018 and 19 respectively to Rwanda. Our visit to Rwanda recently gives us more insightful views of opportunities for trading among both countries. We picked learnings from the intentional effort that Rwanda has put in place to position the country as a destination of choice on the continent. Similarly, we identified areas where Ghana could meet Rwanda in areas of mutual benefit, especially the sectors of manufacturing agribusiness and services. It is imperative for our countries to identify to intensify our trade relations also take advantage of the current trade protocols initiative by the AU.”

The Ghana-Rwanda Business Forum brought together various Ghanaian and Rwanda businesses to explore investment opportunities within key sectors in the Ghanaian economy such as tourism, education, mining and financial technology.

It was organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) in partnership with the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF).