Free trade zone ‘ll boost Africa’s trade by 30%-Odumodu

President of African Organisation for Standardisation, ARSO, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, has reiterated the need for the establishment of Africa’s Continental Free Trade Area, CFTA, in view of its potential of boosting trade within the region by 30 percent.

He recalled that the essence of the free trade area was to become one common market as obtained in European Union and Latin American markets.

The ARSO chief pointed out that sub-regional countries required quality infrastructure such as accredited laboratories, metrology laboratories, effective quality policy, among others to compete favourably in the global economic system.

Odumodu, who is also the Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, urged African leaders to devolve substantial part of their national budgets to support development of key quality infrastructure in the region.

While recalling that African leaders had in 2012 in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia established the CFTA as a strategic initiative, he said that the initiative was aimed at ensuring Africa’s common trade market by the year 2017.

He charged African governments through Ministries of Industrialization, Trade and Commerce to ensure they achieve the desired goals by 2017.

‘’Lack of proper funding and paucity of funds have greatly affected the campaign against dumping and counterfeiting. African Union, AU, has given a marching order to ARSO to use standards to improve trade through harmonization of standards across the continent while collapsing all boundaries, depending on the agreement of African Union Heads of State’’, he stated.

Odumodu explained that the organization was committed to improving Africa’s economic sector, especially by making trade more profitable and globally competitive.

According to him, agriculture and agricultural trade are major sources of income for African countries, stressing that “the expansion of agricultural trade has helped to provide greater quantity, wider variety.