Partnering in the African Youth Forum on the Blue Economy, which has been ongoing since yesterday in Toliara, the Ministry of Industrialization and Trade is presenting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This is an opportunity for the general public and the young African participants at this forum to discover the role of the blue economy in Madagascar’s process of joining the AfCFTA.
Enormous Potential
Madagascar is poised to play an important role in regional integration, due to its vast potential. The fishing and blue economy sectors are among Madagascar’s key assets. « Africa is a huge market for Madagascar’s fishery products, » explains Heriniaina Ramananarivo, coordinator of the Support Project for the Implementation of the African Free Trade Area in Madagascar (PA-ZLECAf). This is precisely why the PA-ZLECAf, with the support of the African Development Bank, views this sector as one of the key elements in the country’s process of joining this historic African Union initiative aimed at creating the largest single market in the world. It is important to note that the AfCFTA can include 54 member countries, representing an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate economic growth, reduce poverty, and strengthen regional integration.
Maritime Links
Madagascar has even more potential to play a significant role in intra-African trade, especially considering that only 400 km separate the island from the African coast. « Facilitating maritime links is one of the initiatives to be undertaken. » This objective is part of the principles of the AfCFTA, which is seen as the process of overcoming, by mutual agreement, the political, physical, and social barriers that separate countries from their neighbors, and collaborating in the management of shared resources and regional common goods. It should be noted that the Director-General of Trade, Isidore Razanakoto, representing the Ministry of Industrialization and Trade, is participating in the African Youth Forum on the Blue Economy (FOJAEB) as a panelist in conferences related to maritime transport and opportunities for young people to benefit from regional integration.
Source: midi-madagasikara
