Lusaka

MALAWI will have access to immense opportunities in the post-COVID-19 environment despite the accompanying challenges the period will pose, says Stephen Karingi, Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Mr Karingi was speaking on Friday at the end of a series of workshops to review and validate Malawi’s African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) implementation strategy.

“In trying to address the challenges caused by the pandemic, there are significant trade and business opportunities. These opportunities are available to Malawi too,” he said in a statement released after the workshop.

The workshop followed two similar exercises in Blantyre and Lilongwe earlier in the week which gave stakeholders in the country an avenue to dialogue and secure ownership of the strategy.

Mr Karingi also told Malawians worried that their country would become a dumping ground for goods from other countries, that the agreement had provisions that protect the Malawian market from unfair trade practices, including anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures.

“Should Malawi face critical balance of payments difficulties and there is need to safeguard its external financial position, the agreement allows the country to adopt appropriate restrictive measures to protect its position,” he said.

For its part, the European Union (EU), a partner of the ECA in the process, says Malawi should take advantage of the exemption clauses in the AfCFTA agreement by promoting industrialization and value added sectors.

“The key will be to attract, protect and nurture foreign direct investment and industrialization to Malawi whilst at the same time profiting from a more open market for Africa’s population,” said Beatrice Neri on behalf of the EU.

Clement Kumbemba, Director of Trade in the Malawian Ministry of Trade, said the implementation strategy reviewed help Malawi to meaningfully benefit from the AfCFTA agreement in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

The meeting brought together stakeholders in the country, including government officials, the private sector operators, women and youth, and civil society organizations.

The ECA, through its African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), has been working with the AU to deepen Africa’s trade integration through the effective implementation of the agreement by supporting the AfCFTA ratification process through policy advocacy.

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