The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) recorded its first commercial trading transaction by issuing its first certificate of full commercial trading to companies within and without Ghana under the AfCFTA Guided Trade initiative.
The trading involved a tiles manufacturing company, Keda Ghana Ceramics Company Limited, located at Shama in the Western Region, exporting a consignment of its products to Cameroun on a certificate of trading issued by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA).
Similarly, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) received the first consignment of goods under the initiative from Rwanda, with delivery already done.
A Ghana-based company, the Benso Oil Palm Plantation (BOPP) at Adum Banso, in the Western Region, had the opportunity to export palm kernel oil to Kenya under the initiative.
Furthermore, consignments of tea products are expected from Kenya, while meat products are also expected to arrive from Egypt.
AfCFTA’s main objective is to eliminate barriers to trade in Africa to significantly boost intra-Africa trade, mainly in value-added production and trade across all sectors of Africa’s economy.
The Assistant Commissioner of Customs in charge of the AfCFTA Secretariat, F.Y. Akoto, said on September 30, this year, the Customs Division issued the certificate of trading to these companies to undertake such a course.
“With Keda Ghana Ceramics Company Limited, which manufactures tiles, it is expected that when the products reach Cameroun, their customs officials will give the necessary preferential treatment to Keda Ceramics for it to enjoy reduced tariffs and quota-free facility,” he said in an interview with Daily Graphic on October 6.
On the imports from Rwanda, he said they were made of coffee products received at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
“Ghana Customs processed the Bill of Entry on the consignment, granting the importer the necessary tariff cuts after he had satisfied all the documentary requirements.”
“This means that the AfCFTA agreement has come into full force, and our manufacturers can take advantage of it to export to other countries,” he added.
Mr Akoto added that the second consignment of tea products from Rwanda arrived at the KIA yesterday, and documents on the goods were being processed for possible delivery, possibly before the close of work yesterday.
Reiterating Ghana’s readiness for the take-off of the AfCFTA, Mr. Akoto said: “We have the structures in place for an effective take-off.”
“The Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, the National AfCFTA Coordinating Office, the Customs Division of the GRA, together with the AfCFTA Secretariat, are helping the companies to meet the requirements.
“The experiences gathered out of this will help streamline our processes for the smooth implementation of the policy,” he explained.
Mr Akoto said some challenges that had been identified were being addressed.
“We have been helping local companies to go through the systems. Some of them have been saying that although they hear about free trade in Africa, they don’t believe it, so we need to educate them on what it takes to benefit from the free trade agreement,” he said.