Posted on September, 17, 2024 at 07:33 am
High tariffs on agricultural produce are stifling intra-Africa trade, leaving countries to import food from Europe, America and Asia, rather than from African peers.
Yet there is a need to feed 2.2 billion people by 2050, while addressing Africa’s $60 to $80 billion annual food import bill.
Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), said the continent imports over $100 million worth of food annually, comprising rice, maize, soya, and different types of grains.
“The highest import tariff that we as Africans impose over one another is 65 percent on agricultural products,” he told the Africa Food Systems (AFS) Forum 2024 recently held in Kigali.
“If you look at the range of what we call tariff peaks, the largest and the highest tariffs are what we impose against one another (in Africa) on agricultural products and yet we are importing $100 million worth of food from other parts of the world.”
Some African countries are still importing wheat from Ukraine, even as Mr Mene insists there is a surplus on the continent.