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Odumodu wants African free trade area established

By on July 6, 2014

The President of African Region Standards Organisation, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, has called for the establishment of African Continental Free Trade Area by 2017.

Odumodu, who is also the Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, said this during the African Day of Standardisation celebration in Kigali, Rwanda last week, a statement made available to our correspondent on Thursday said.

The African Standardisation Day is meant to raise awareness among African regulators, industry players, consumers and other stakeholders on the benefits of standardisation to the growth of the continent.

According to the statement, Odumodu wants African leaders to ensure the speedy establishment of the CFTA, which was endorsed at the 2012 African Union Summit, as that will create a single market for goods and services in the continent.

Stressing that standardisation plays a key role in economic growth, he said, “On this day, I wish to emphasise that global competition has become more intensified in terms of quality, price, supply chain management and dependability of delivery systems. Consumer preferences (influenced by increased incomes, health and other social concerns) as well as demand for quality products are changing the way suppliers and producers respond to market signals.

“A major concern, during this time, on trade for the African standardisation stakeholders and policy makers should be the fact that more than 90 per cent of Africa’s exports are still destined for outside markets (EU, USA and emerging markets) while more than 90 per cent of her imported goods are from outside the continent despite resource endowments, which should provide the potential to supply her own imported needs.”

He said the focus of the African Standardisation Day remained raising awareness about benefits and standardisation, measurements, conformity assessment and accreditation as a strategic asset in the African economic integration, among other things.

Odumodu also said there was the need to encourage Small and Medium-sized Enterprises to participate in standardisation programmes.

By doing so, he explained, they would be able to make their products competitive in the global export market.

He added that SMEs would also be able to get practical guides on how to use and implement standards, and identify the needs and priorities of national, regional and continental standardisation to enhance development of productive capacities.

According to him, ARSO has been leveraging initiatives such as ARSO COCO, ARSO CACO, ARSO DISNEY and DISNET web portal, African Day of Standardisation and the likes to ensure effective standardisation and conformity assessment infrastructure to guarantee Africa’s competitiveness.

 

 

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