Scale up transparency standards- Prof. Abotsi to AfCFTA Secretariat

Dean of UPSA Law School in Accra-Ghana  Professor E. Kofi Abotsi has called for enhanced transparency in the operations of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
According to him, such enhancement will boost confidence among businesses and encourage intra-trading within the African Continent.

Prof. E. Kofi Abotsi, Dean of UPSA Law School, Accra-Ghana

Interacting with the Journalists on the sidelines of International lecture by the UPSA Law School, African Bar Association and Ghana Bar Association on the theme “Dispute Settlement under the AfCFTA and the new African Legal Market”, in Accra-Ghana, the Constitutional Law Expert Prof. Abotsi said the secretariat should be resolute in strengthening its values of transparency to sustain the trading regime”.

He noted that this will support the structures and systems of the AfCFTA in decisions concerning dispute settlement.

“In any trading regime, what sustains the regime is the sense of transparency and the sense of members gaining equally. AfCFTA should bolster its transparency values for a formidable system”.

Mr. Senyo Hosi, CEO of Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors. 

Contributing to the debate, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Hosi explained that the lack of an independent legal system under the AFCFTA will decline investor confidence.

“It’s quite scary in our highly polarised environment with politics taking over. We need to look at the independence of various structures dealing with trade-related issues or else it will inhibit investor confidence”, he said.

The dispute settlement mechanism, according to the AfCFTA Secretariat is obliged to preserve rights and obligations of state parties under the agreement and clarify the existing provisions of the African Continent Free Trade Agreement.

AfCFTA Secretariat, situated in Accra-Ghana, is expected to improve trading activities with the African region.