Patience Masua
The Pan Afrikanist
The African child has been called upon to play his role in the formidable task of global
reconstruction in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, which continues to wreak havoc in some parts of the world.
And indeed, entrepreneurship lies at the heart of that reconstruction, Honourable Patience Masua, said on September 13th in Cape Town when giving a keynote address at the opening of the Village Africa Boot Camp.
The boot camp was held under the theme, ‘Maximizing opportunities for entrepreneurs in the Africa Continental Fee Trade Agreement’.
Masua holds the distinct title of being the youngest Parliamentarian in the 7th Parliament of the Republic of Namibia.
The AfCFTA is an initiative by the 55 member
states of the African Union (AU) to create a single continent-wide market for goods and services.
Masua emphasized to the cohorts drawn from Ghana and Namibia that access to the market is key to developmental growth on the African continent.
Equally, she said trade among nations of the continent is a “precursor to economic growth” in Africa, which is renowned as the ‘cradle of mankind’, but has unfortunately lagged behind the rest of the world in terms of trade, infrastructure, education, and access to opportunity for social mobility
for all its inhabitants.
AfCFTA seeks to promote the movement of capital, goods, and natural persons, Masua highlighted and added that, although one may need a passport, the vision is to create a continent in which citizens will travel “Visa-free”.
“I believe that our Ghanaian brothers and sisters would love to visit Namibia Visa-free, to taste our delicious Kapana, or go on quad bike rides in our famous the Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the world”, Masua enthused.
The over-arching objective of AfCFTA is the elimination and/ or reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers amongst the 54 countries of the bloc, according to the African Union.
Masua said that this will facilitate the movement of goods and services and facilitate the creation of a single market in order to spearhead economic integration and achieve prosperity for the entire continent.
Namibia signed the AfCFTA agreement on the 2nd July 2018 and deposited the instruments of ratification of the agreement at the African Union on 1 February 2019.
Trading under the AfCFTA agreement commenced on 01 January 2021. Currently, 37 countries, including Namibia have ratified the agreement, according to Namibia’s chief negotiator for AfCFTA and Deputy Executive Director at the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade, and Commerce Ndiitah Nghipondoka – Robiati.
What does Africa stand to gain from AfCFTA?
According to Masua, the African Continental Free Trade Area establishes the world’s largest comprehensive Free Trade Area (FTA).
With more than 1.3 billion people and a combined Gross Domestic Product valued at more than 3.4 trillion US Dollars, it is expected that Intra African trade will increase by 33 percent which equates approximately to 8 Billion U$ Dollars.
Namibia, as part of the global family of nations, and as a member of the African Union has adopted the Harambee Prosperity Plan 2, which is President Hage Geingob’s accelerated flagship plan to ensure maximum economic growth and make Namibia a prosperous nation by the year 2030.
It is indeed an ambitious plan and can be achieved if all Namibians heed the clarion call of the Founding Father, and First President of the Republic of Namibia who said that “A people united striving to achieve a common purpose will always emerge victoriously”.
In Namibia’s cohort, among the 21 delegates, there was 28-year-old Thekla Mutero, the owner of Rise Shine Minerals Pty Ltd, which owns an Exclusive Prospecting Licence (EPL) to prospect, mine, and trade in precious and semi-precious stones which she acquired from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Her license doesn’t only limit her to these stones such as diamonds which Namibia is known for but stretches to include rare metals and non-nuclear fuels.
Masua said that Mutero’s willingness to partner with investors from within the continent and the opportunities Namibia brings forth to create the Africa we want. Rise Shine Mineral uses the newest technology in detecting minerals.
These high-valued minerals will be showcased at the Dubai export where African resources would be put on display for the world.
Masua stressed that AfCFTA provides Africans with an opportunity to harness partnerships in order to create value addition and beneficiation to increase “our bargaining powers on the world market before these minerals are offered to the world.
In its blueprint, the AU Agenda 2063, envisions a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development, transformed economies, modern agriculture for increased productivity and production as well as an integrated continent politically united and based on the ideals of pan-Africanism and the vision of African Renaissance.
Masua also paid tribute to South Africa as the home of revolutionary giants such as Nelson Mandela and the great Winnie Mandela.
She said that South Africa was one of the last vestiges of apartheid and colonial rule on the African continent that dwarfed “our development”.
Masua said that Africans from all corners of Africa, from Windhoek to Accra, Gaborone to Harare, from Mbabane to Addis Ababa should feel at home in South Africa the same way that South Africans should feel at home anywhere on the African continent.
“Through trade liberalization with the full implementation of instruments such as AfCFTA, this no longer has to be a far-fetched dream but can be a reality for my generation”, Masua said, with Kwame Nkrumah’s quote, ‘Africa is one continent, one people and one nation’ – to boot.
