It is time for Africa to turn to real continental trade

The six cooperation agreements signed between Rwanda and Botswana on Wednesday as President Paul Kagame visited the southern African country, should be welcomed as more than another diplomatic milestone. The deals included a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement; a Memorandum of Agreement on Visa Abolition for holders of all Rwandan passports; a Bilateral Air Services Agreement; and agreements in the areas of health, economic and trade and investment. They are a timely reminder that Africa’s future will not be secured by speeches about unity, but by practical agreements that make it easier for Africans to trade, travel, invest and solve shared problems together. This is the kind of partnership Africa needs more of. For too long, African countries have looked outside the continent for answers to problems whose solutions often exist within Africa itself. The result has been fragmented markets, weak intra-African trade, unnecessary dependence, and missed opportunities for shared growth. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was signed in 2018 after years of talks on the same. Nearly a decade since the agreement was signed, however, the gap between ambition and results remains too wide. The challenge is not lack of vision, because Africa has no shortage of declarations, protocols and summits. The challenge is implementation, and in many cases, the continued tendency by countries to build walls around their economies instead of bridges to their neighbours and fellow African states. That is why the Rwanda-Botswana agreements matter. Though the two countries are not immediate neighbours, they are demonstrating that geography should not be an excuse for limited cooperation to better lives of peoples of the two countries. Air connectivity, visa facilitation, investment promotion and removal of tax barriers are not abstract diplomatic issues. They are the very foundations on which real business, tourism, skills exchange and people-to-people relations are built. But the true test will be in implementation. These agreements must not remain in government files or be remembered only for the ceremony at which they were signed. They must be translated into measurable outcomes: more trade, easier movement of people, stronger private sector partnerships, greater investment, and visible benefits for citizens in both countries. Africa’s integration will not happen by accident. It will be built one serious bilateral and regional partnership at a time. Rwanda and Botswana have taken an important step. Others should follow, and more importantly, all must act with urgency. The continent has spoken enough about integration. It is time to make it work.

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It is time for Africa to turn to real continental trade