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Kudzanai Sharara in Accra, Ghana
African countries must accelerate the elimination of restrictions that hinder trade and investments amongst themselves, Africa’s richest man and billionaire Aliko Dangote told delegates on Sunday, the first day of the 30th Afreximbank Annual Meetings underway here.
In a plenary session on Delivering Prosperity Through Industrialisation, with moderator Mark Eddo, chief executive of Mark Eddo Media, Mr Dangote said some of the requirements such as visas make it difficult for entrepreneurs like him to invest in some countries.
“If you are making life difficult for me, I am not going to invest,” Mr Dangote said.
He said there was need to free up from the visa regime and allow Africans to move freely.
Mr Dangote said some countries with stringent visa regimes give excuses of security risks yet there were many people illegally crossing the borders and investing nothing.
“Yet I want to invest and you are harassing me, it does not make sense.
“So please, as Africans we must take these sorts of political will and remove all these obstacles,” said Mr Dangote.
He gave the example of Saudi Arabia, which used to have the most difficult visa to get, but now has the easiest, which has manifested in increased investment and a booming economy.
“We need to make sure the regional markets work because right now we are not allowing free trade, but the other side that is working against us, the smugglers, they are having free trade.”
Mr Dangote said there was need to make the AfCFTA work so that African countries can trade amongst themselves.
Earlier, Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat shared the same sentiment saying even if trade finance was available but trade barriers persisted and prevented trade, then all the efforts would still have been wasted.
The Afreximbank has helped remove some of these barriers by introducing a number of platforms designed to improve trade in Africa such as the Payment Settlement System and Intra-African Trade Fair, among others.
On Sunday, Afreximbank launched another enabler, in the form of an insurance management services company, AfrexInsure. Speaking during the launch, which took place on the sidelines of Afreximbank’s 30th Anniversary Annual Meetings, Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, speaking on behalf of Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, said AfrexInsure was established to facilitate the insurance of specialty risks in order to support businesses in Afreximbank member countries to mitigate the problem of Africa having to rely on external partners to architect the continent’s economic resilience and development.
“By reducing the risk of transactions or investments, insurance can help drive forward business strategy for those engaged in intra-African trade and enable global partners to further their commercial interests and ambitions in Africa,” said Ms Awani.
Mr Dangote called for industrialisation of the continent saying by exporting raw materials, Africa is importing poverty and exporting jobs.
He said despite the associated risks, the African continent offers opportunities to be rich.
Meanwhile, Mr Dangote thanked Afreximbank for its unwavering support of his business ventures including the Dangote Refinery that was inaugurated on May 22, 2023 in Lekki, Nigeria.
Afreximbank is the largest financier of the over US$19 billion Dangote Refinery, as disclosed by Benedict Oramah, president of Afreximbank at the Afreximbank’s 2023 pre-annual meeting press conference for the bank’s 30th-anniversary celebration held mid-May 2023.
“Without Afreximbank, our dream wouldn’t have come to fruition. They did a lot, they gave us a lot of advice, when we had issues during Covid-19 because everything stopped,” said Mr Dangote.
He applauded Afreximbank for its agility in providing much-needed finance to entrepreneurs, something that takes even a year with other financial institutions.
Online Reporter