According to the second wave of covid-19 business Tracker Survey, it’s only 958(26.2%) businesses in the whole country that are aware of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA). The AFCFTA is scheduled to begin on January 1, 2021. The survey was conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the world bank from 15th August to 20th September this year.
To offer important information to the government, development partners, and other organizations, 3,658 firms out of 4,311 firms were interviewed for the second time. Speaking during a press conference held in Accra on Thursday, prof. Samuel Annim said that the awareness of AFCFTA was more among the medium and large firms. The large firms had 72.7% while medium firms had 63.8%. The results had already been shared with the Ministry of Finance and it will soon be shared with the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Besides, Prof. Annim said that 76% of all the firms believed that by implementing AFCFTA there would be an improvement in their performance. According to the survey, large, small, and medium firms believe that reducing the cost of credit, increasing the information on business opportunities and digitization will offer the required support to make them firms useful.
Prof. Annim said that many firms will reap enormous benefits from AFCFTA and therefore, the Ghana Statistical Service has taken a few steps to increase the sensitization of this event to many firms. Also, the Prof said, “We expect the firms in Ghana would fully be aware of this intervention and will be educated on the strategies by which they can harness the returns associated with it.”
