• Zambia must take advantage of the launched AFCTA
• It has potential to promote value addition.
• AFCTA is poised to create free flow of economic factors

Zambia Association of Manufactures (ZAM) says the recently launched Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCTA) has potential to promote value addition in the country.
Association Chief Executive Officer Florence Muleya told Money FM News in an interview that the country should take advantage of the initiative because it is poised to create orderly and free flow of economic factors including highly efficient ventures and integration of markets.
Ms. Muleya noted that the Agreement also has the ability to increase market access, stimulate foreign investment, competitiveness and encourage diversification.
She further said the initiative is poised to address challenge of overlapping membership between Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
“Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement has huge potential to promote value addition in Zambia. It is poised to address the challenge of overlapping membership between SADC and COMESA, but also has the ability to increase market access, stimulate foreign investment, competitiveness and could encourage diversification,” Ms. Muleya said.
Meanwhile, Ms. Muleya observed that the ratification of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area in Zambia will be faced with numerous challenges which include inadequate transportation infrastructure, high energy costs, and lack of trade remedies among others.
She however said despite the challenges, Zambia still has a huge import bill, which it can take advantage of to start import substitution.
“Nonetheless, the ratification of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area in Zambia will also be faced with a number of challenges such as inadequate transportation infrastructure, high energy costs, lack of trade remedial policies and insufficient certification facilities for manufacturing.”
“Since Zambia’s inter Africa trade is already in deficit, and exports to COMESA and SADC are mostly in raw form with little value addition, still Zambia has a huge import bill, and this agreement means that Zambia can take advantage of this bill to start to import substitute and export,” she noted.
She said a thriving manufacturing sector which can compete with finished imports, should be the main tenet of ratifying the Continental Free Trade Agreement because this will allow trade in larger regional market, for Zambia’s originating goods, where domestic products will freely compete in potentially increasing non-traditional exports and export earnings.
According to Minister of Commerce, Trade, and Industry Christopher Yaluma, Zambia has been given Cabinet approval to ratify the Agreement and it is currently under consideration by Parliament for possible ratification.