President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on member states who are yet to ratify their African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement to do so by December 2020 to fully benefit from the agreement.

The president made this call during the official commissioning of the secretariat building in Accra Monday.

He indicated that Ghana had fully met all her obligations and commitments agreed with the in-commission and was handing over a fully furnished and befitting office space.

He said, “when you consider the fact that trade between African countries remains low, our understanding is some 16% of our combined GDP compared to other parts of the world like the European Union’s 75%, it is obvious that these very low levels of inter-regional trade constitute one of the defining characteristics of our continuing poverty.”

“We in Ghana believe that an increase in trade is the surest way to deepen regional integration in Africa. It will mean a rapid increase in the exchange of industrial, financial and scientific products which will significantly impact our economic fortunes as a continent, create prospects and provide opportunities for employment for the broad masses of Africans particularly the youth. And the full implementation of the AfCFTA will dispel the notion that the AU is not capable of executing its own decisions.”

The president highlighted “Africa’s new sense of urgency in aspiration of true self-reliance will be amply demonstrated by today’s program.”

H appealed to all member states who are yet to ratify the AfCFTA agreement to take advantage of the postponement of the training, “to do so by December 2020 to enable us trade fully among ourselves so we can harness the benefits of the AfCFTA together.”