Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged African leaders to work towards ramping up the total $3.1 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries on the continent, amounting to a paltry three percent of the overall global GDP.
The vice president gave the charge during the African Economy of Scale Plenary on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
He regretted that African trade was still hovering around three per cent of world trade.
According to him, “The total Gross Domestic Product of African countries taken together is barely $3.1 Trillion, which is less than 3% of world GDP”.
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“African trade still hovers at 3% of world trade. These indices must be reversed and ramped up. I believe this is one of the key concerns of the Africa Economy of Scale.
“It must be borne in mind that African economies are still largely primary and basic in nature, with considerable dependencies on the global economy. Most countries on our continent are still known for their export of raw materials, minerals and food crops. African economies understand that we must begin to add value to primary products like cash crops and step up to secondary and tertiary product manufacturing,” the VP stated.
In his brief remark at the event, which was held at Kurpark Village, Davos-Klosters, Shettima pointed out that it is for this reason that Africa is considered by top analysts the world over as a growth economy in dire need of investments and infrastructure.
He however told African leaders that economies of scale “Portend the ability to do more” by coming together and form “A more formidable unit, with a bigger voice and stronger negotiating abilities.”
The vice president, in a statement on Thursday by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, urged them to run faster and purposefully to catch up with the rest of the world in eradicating crass poverty on the continent and prove that the continent could be a significant contributor to world productivity that can “Integrate better with the rest of the world in an age when Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are redefining human interactions and existence.”
The vice president noted that while African trade agreement is projected to boost the continent’s GDP by $450 billion in the next one decade, the urgency to actualise an African economy of scale is the reason behind the continent’s trade cooperation as demonstrated by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
