Ghanaian business leader Sir Sam Jonah has warned that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is in “grave danger” of failing if African countries do not demonstrate stro
The report indicates that ghanaian business leader Sir Sam Jonah has warned that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is in “grave danger” of failing if African countries do not demonstrate stronger commitment to its implementation.
It further notes that he stated the continent’s most ambitious economic integration project since independence was not being threatened by a lack of vision, but by protectionist policies, xenophobia and the treatment of African investors and workers in other African countries.
Delivering the keynote address at the Global Business Forum – Ghana Edition on Friday, August 28, Sir Sam Jonah stated African countries must move beyond declarations and ensure that the principles of free trade are reflected in how businesses and investors are treated.
“Let us also disabuse ourselves of one comfortable illusion: nobody will buy African out of a sense of duty to the cause. Sentiment is not a supply chain,” he said.
Sir Sam Jonah, who began his career underground at Obuasi and later led Ashanti Goldfields to become the first operating African company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, stated the fate of AfCFTA ultimately rested with its member states.
He warned that the agreement would not necessarily be undermined by external forces but could instead collapse because of actions taken by African countries themselves.
“If it dies, it will die by our own hand — border by border, permit by permit, prejudice by prejudice,” he declared.
He identified recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa as particularly damaging to the vision of a unified African market.
Describing the attacks as “a dagger aimed at the heart of continental integration,” Sir Sam Jonah warned that such incidents could trigger retaliatory actions in other African countries.
“A free trade area cannot survive among citizens who are not free to trade, to work, and to live among one another in safety,” he said.
Sir Sam Jonah also drew on his own experience as an African investor to illustrate the challenges facing businesses operating across the continent.
He stated that a significant real estate investment he made in Nigeria had faced what he described as “sustained harassment by state agencies”.
“Ghanaian workers on the site have endured treatment not dissimilar to the scenes we deplore in South Africa,” he said.
He stated he was raising the issue not to embarrass any country but to highlight the broader implications for African investors.
