Concern over weak African custom controls

Many African countries have no ability to enforce customs agreements, and this could be a major hindrance to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. That’s the view of secretary-general Wamkele Mene who says ‘the capacity of customs authorities is very, very low. Addressing a webinar organised by the ANC’s Progressive Business Forum, Mene said there were countries which did not have the capacity to implement the agreement, and it was going to be ‘a very, very big challenge’. A Fin24 report notes that Mene said the lockdown associated with the Covid-19 pandemic had delayed the implementation of the AfCFTA from last year until the start of this year, but it came with many lessons. ‘Africa must accelerate industrial development so that we rely less on global supply chains and rely more on regional supply chains,’ he added.