Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Chipoka Mulenga says government is in the process of renegotiating some clauses in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Mulenga said in its current form the agreement is dictating that countries can get things from anywhere else, package them in Africa, and render such products African, which would kill the production and manufacturing sector for Africa.
He explained that Zambia should be allowed to make decisions for itself on how it is going to structure the investment and development agenda in the area of economic zones, which is not the case with the current agreement.
Mulenga noted that Zambia should also be allowed to charter its own way to the part of industrialisation without being dictated upon by any other statutory requirements by any organisation.
“If Africa is going to trade with itself, products must be grown, produced and packaged on African soil not other continents bringing them here and packaging here then render them African products, if we allow that Africa will never develop”, he said.
The minister stressed that the agreement should be able to protect local industries as government’s focus is on strengthening the local industry in order to enhance industrialisation and ensure Zambia benefits from the agreement.
