President John Mahama has said African countries are unable to experience full benefits from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) due to poor transport infrastructure.
Speaking at the Russia University of Transport after the conferment of an honorary degree on him as a visiting Head of State, he noted that although African countries had established a single continental market through the AfCFTA, poor road networks, inadequate railway connections and underdeveloped ports continued to prevent the continent from fully realising the agreement’s potential.
“Even though we have passed the African Continental Free Trade Area which makes the whole of Africa one market, we cannot get the full potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area because we do not even have the infrastructure for trading amongst ourselves,” he said.
“The roads between countries are bad, there are no railways, many countries don’t have ports that are in any good shape to receive goods from other countries,” he added.
President Mahama called on Russia for stronger cooperation with Africa to address these infrastructure gaps.
He said Ghana believes Russia could be an important partner in addressing these challenges, citing what he described as Moscow’s longstanding commitment to Africa without conditions attached to its support.
“From the time of independence, Russia has been a friend, has expressed solidarity with Africa on very key issues,” he stated.
He also cited Russia’s role in the fight against apartheid and its advocacy against colonialism, describing the country as a longstanding friend of the continent.
“They took part in the fight against apartheid, advocacy against colonialism. And so we see Russia as a true friend, and I believe that even in this modern age, this is the time that we should show more solidarity with each other,” he said.
