Several investors have been advised to make good use of Africa’s fertile land to boost food production and sustainable agriculture.
Business executives and policymakers at the EU-Africa business summit in Marrakech, Morocco, came to this conclusion at the 4th edition of the EU-Africa summit.
According to industry experts, more development will be spurred only by significant private sector investment and regulatory implementation.
“This is the moment for investors from around the world to come to the continent and invest. They are free to establish themselves under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in any location of their choice, and wherever they do so, we are implying that their market is the entire continent “Chiza Charles Chiumya, the African Union Commission’s acting Director of Industry, Mining, and Entrepreneurship, stated.
“The CADEP framework, for example, promotes agriculture in Africa. We have the Malabo Declaration, which aimed to hasten the transformation of agriculture. Consequently, our member nations must fully execute these programs. In addition, we urge our member states to ensure that the policies in place can be implemented “Dr. Patrick Ndzana Olomo, head of the AU Department of Economic Affairs’ Investment and Mobilization of Resources, said it well.
Agriculture accounts for 23% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP, according to the World Bank. It was also agreed during the EU-Africa business conference that the EU-Africa trade collaboration in the industry should henceforth focus on small-holder farmers. Former EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan held this role.
People were with Jerry Fisayo-Bambi and Phil Hogan at the time.
Our African Union partners and all the countries in the world can count on us to help them get the money, expertise, and partnerships they need to make this happen. However, the farmer must be at the center of the action, Hogan said.
This European Africa business summit is a good place to talk about policy ideas, but unless there are people willing to put them into practice, they are all just ideas. They should get enough money for carbon farming, renewable energy, and job creation. In terms of food, nutrition, and food security, “the farmer must be at the heart of what we do,” said the former EU Agriculture Commissioner.
The European Union is one of Africa’s most important trading and investment partners. In 2020, its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stock in Africa was €222 billion, compared to €42 billion in the United States and €38 billion in China.
The summit’s organizers, the EBS group, claim their goal is to create both continents’ common destiny by bringing key corporate leaders, legislators, and specialists together.
They went on to say that the EU-Africa collaboration must produce a meaningful partnership with policy objectives, standards, and rules that benefit both continents, especially following the Covid pandemic’s stoppage.
