The Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has announced that as part of efforts to accelerate the country’s exports, Ghanaian businesses will be registered on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to trade their goods.

He stated that an accelerated development council will be established to monitor the growth of these Ghanaian businesses and encourage them when necessary to help boost their production and sales.

This move is also aimed at promoting exports under his 24-hour economy policy.

Launching the NDC manifesto on Saturday, August 24, 2024, at Winneba, Mahama noted that he will personally chair this development council once established.

“The accelerated 2024 development council, I am going to chair that personally. We want to accelerate our exports. We are going to register more Ghanaian goods on the African Continental Free Trade Area so that we can export to other countries, and I am going to chair that personally.

“We are going to meet every month and appraise where we are at in terms of encouraging Ghanaian businesses to export. This accelerated development council will promote export under the 24-hour economy,” he said.

The African Continental Free Trade Area, one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063, is a high-ambition trade agreement with a comprehensive scope that includes critical areas of Africa’s economy such as digital trade and investment protection, among others.

By eliminating barriers to trade in Africa, the objective of the free trade pact is to significantly boost intra-Africa trade, particularly trade in value-added production and trade across all sectors of Africa’s economy.

AfCFTA, which came into effect in January 2021, is the largest free trade area globally, covering 55 African countries with a combined population of 1.3 billion people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeding $3.4 trillion.

The pact also seeks to help African economies build robust and more resilient economies to absorb any shock – internally or externally.

SA/AE