By
Moono John
As of Monday 28 December, 2020, the population of Africa stood at 1,356,137, 670 people according to the United Nations estimates. This figure of the population will require a better mode of movement from country to country in the quest for trade and business opportunities.
The continental free trade area agreement that came into effect in January of this year . A lot has be made about the coming of agreement with trade experts predicting that the intra-Africa trade will be boosted by 52%. That is the huge figure in business terms.
The key cog to making this whole agreement a fruit one is the key sector of transport being fully explored. This encompasses all forms of transport that can be used to ferry goods and services between places on the continent of Africa.
There is no denying that Oil is the main engine of the the economy because it enables the wheels of the economy to be moving . The wheels of the economy enable goods and services to move from one point to the other. Africa has a number of countries that are rich in Oil and members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC). With the pandemic hit the transport sector so hard because of the imposition of lockdowns in countries around the world.
The Oil prices reached a record that OPEC had to plead with countries to buy the stock of Oil before it could go to waste. That is a point when many African countries failed to take advantage and improve their transport sectors. Countries should have been able to stocked enough Oil reserves for future use and reduce the cost of transportation.
The coming of the agreement means that more goods and services are expected to be moved from countries to countries. However, this is going to be hard to achieve because currently the transportation costs are quite hefty for many producers and consumers. Producers should not be finding it challenging to transport the goods and entrepreneurs should also not find it challenging to transport their services.
The fairer the transportation costs are the more the goods and services will be moved between places on the continent. This will result in increased intra-Africa trade between and among countries on the continent. The projection of improving intra-Africa trade by 52% is going to be a reality when transportation costs are seriously reduced. Entrepreneurs, Businesses and Consumers should not complain about transportation costs but rather should lament natural calamities to befell the businesses and products.
Aviation, Marine Rail Transport and Road form of transport should not stand in the way of entrepreneurs, businesses and consumers as Africa seeks to take control of its economy through the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement.
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