Africa Free Trade Area WEB
Metadata
- Africa Free Trade Area WEB
- June 29, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script English USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: AFRICA FREE TRADE AREA (TVPKG) HEADLINE: African Continental FTA Challenged by Bureaucracy, Poor Infrastructure TEASER: World Bank says 84% of African trade is with partners outside of Africa PUBLISHED AT: 6/29/2022 AT 1:20PM BYLINE: Anne Nzouankeu CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Yaoundé, Cameroon/ Abidjan, Ivory Coast VIDEOGRAPHER: Anne Nzouankeu PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: Schearf; caw VIDEO SOURCE: VOA PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X RADIO X TRT: 2:50 VID APPROVED BY: MAS TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: )) ((INTRO)) [[ The African Continental Free Trade Area has been operating for more than a year with the aim of cutting red tape to expand inter-African trade and lift millions of people out of poverty. But the largest trade pact in the world, in terms of member countries, has seen slow progress and mixed results. Anne Nzouankeu reports from Abidjan, Ivory Coast in this report narrated by Moki Edwin Kindzeka.]] ((NARRATOR)) The president of Cameroon’s Professional Transporters Network, Moïse Vokeng, has been trucking goods to Chad and the Central African Republic for more than 10 years. It’s never been easy, he says, adding that the African Continental Free Trade Area in place since January 2021 hasn’t made any noticeable improvement. Vokeng says African countries have been slow to cut bureaucracy and improve poor transport links. ((Moise Vokeng, Cameroon Professional Transporters Network (Male, French, 22 secs)) “We find it difficult to cross our borders. When you leave Douala (Cameroon) for the Central African Republic, I can't count the difficulties we have in dealing with the Garoua-Boulaï road, then Bouam to CAR. The same goes for access to Chad. There are so many requirements that we realize that free trade is not yet effective.” ((NARRATOR)) The World Bank says 84% of African trade is with partners outside Africa. The World Bank says once implemented, the duty-free, continent-wide deal will boost intra-African trade, create jobs, and lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty. The bank's chief economist for Africa spoke on the continental free trade agreement in June at an Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan. ((Albert Zeufack, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa (Male, French, 20 secs)) “It is important to recognize the effort that African leaders have made to enable the African Continental Free Trade Area to start up. But then, we must continue to work to better connect Africa in terms of infrastructure, but also in terms of digital infrastructure.” ((NARRATOR)) Pan-African companies say improving intra-African trade is a challenge that offers great potential for economic independence. ((Jérome Petit, Groupe Bolloré (French, 17 secs)) "There is a need for Africa to develop a form of autarky, but in the positive sense of being less dependent on the rest of the world for their own consumption and processing flows. So, developing manufacturing, industrial processing and intra-African production. All this will only be a reality if the pan-African free trade area is put in place.” ((NARRATOR)) More than 40 African countries have ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area. On the ground, traders are hoping that non-tariff barriers will quickly be lifted so that the benefits can begin. ((For Anne Nzouankeu, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Mokie Edwin Kindzeka, for VOA News.))
- Transcript/Script USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: AFRICA FREE TRADE AREA (TVPKG) HEADLINE: African Continental FTA Challenged by Bureaucracy, Poor Infrastructure TEASER: World Bank says 84% of African trade is with partners outside of Africa PUBLISHED AT: 6/29/2022 AT 1:20PM BYLINE: Anne Nzouankeu CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Yaoundé, Cameroon/ Abidjan, Ivory Coast VIDEOGRAPHER: Anne Nzouankeu PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: Schearf; caw VIDEO SOURCE: VOA PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X RADIO X TRT: 2:50 VID APPROVED BY: MAS TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: )) ((INTRO)) [[ The African Continental Free Trade Area has been operating for more than a year with the aim of cutting red tape to expand inter-African trade and lift millions of people out of poverty. But the largest trade pact in the world, in terms of member countries, has seen slow progress and mixed results. Anne Nzouankeu reports from Abidjan, Ivory Coast in this report narrated by Moki Edwin Kindzeka.]] ((NARRATOR)) The president of Cameroon’s Professional Transporters Network, Moïse Vokeng, has been trucking goods to Chad and the Central African Republic for more than 10 years. It’s never been easy, he says, adding that the African Continental Free Trade Area in place since January 2021 hasn’t made any noticeable improvement. Vokeng says African countries have been slow to cut bureaucracy and improve poor transport links. ((Moise Vokeng, Cameroon Professional Transporters Network (Male, French, 22 secs)) “We find it difficult to cross our borders. When you leave Douala (Cameroon) for the Central African Republic, I can't count the difficulties we have in dealing with the Garoua-Boulaï road, then Bouam to CAR. The same goes for access to Chad. There are so many requirements that we realize that free trade is not yet effective.” ((NARRATOR)) The World Bank says 84% of African trade is with partners outside Africa. The World Bank says once implemented, the duty-free, continent-wide deal will boost intra-African trade, create jobs, and lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty. The bank's chief economist for Africa spoke on the continental free trade agreement in June at an Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan. ((Albert Zeufack, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa (Male, French, 20 secs)) “It is important to recognize the effort that African leaders have made to enable the African Continental Free Trade Area to start up. But then, we must continue to work to better connect Africa in terms of infrastructure, but also in terms of digital infrastructure.” ((NARRATOR)) Pan-African companies say improving intra-African trade is a challenge that offers great potential for economic independence. ((Jérome Petit, Groupe Bolloré (French, 17 secs)) "There is a need for Africa to develop a form of autarky, but in the positive sense of being less dependent on the rest of the world for their own consumption and processing flows. So, developing manufacturing, industrial processing and intra-African production. All this will only be a reality if the pan-African free trade area is put in place.” ((NARRATOR)) More than 40 African countries have ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area. On the ground, traders are hoping that non-tariff barriers will quickly be lifted so that the benefits can begin. ((For Anne Nzouankeu, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Mokie Edwin Kindzeka, for VOA News.))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date June 29, 2022 13:16 EDT
- Byline Anne Nzouankeu
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America