FPCCI & Pan African Chamber Meet FPCCI to Support Look Africa Initiative & FTAs Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, Acting President FPCCI

Karachi: Mr. Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, Acting President FPCCI, has stressed that the absence of free trade agreements (FTAs) with the African nations should be addressed; which, in turn, has limited our trade volume with a huge continent comprising of 54 countries. There are significant economies in Africa with whom we can multiply our trade volumes within years – both bilaterally & exports to the region cumulatively, he added.

Mr. Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, Acting President FPCCI, maintained that the apex body will fully support Look Africa Policy Initiative of the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan; and, will advocate signing of free trade agreements (FTAs) with the African nations. He specifically emphasized to have bilateral FTAs with the top 7 economies of Africa; i.e. Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, Ethiopia, Morocco and Kenya – accounting for approximately 78 percent of the total GDP of Africa; with each having country GDP in upwards of $100 billion.

It is pertinent to note that The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) and Pan African Chambers of Commerce & Industry (PACCI) have held a high-profile interactive session to identify and explore the areas of mutual interests: trade promotion activities; chamber-to-chamber linkages; investments & JVs; business tourism and economic cooperation.

Mr. Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, Acting President FPCCI, apprised that Pakistan’s exports to Africa, as a whole, demonstrated stagnation at around $1,500 million in 2022. On the other hand, the imports from Africa, increased from $3.18 billion in 2018 to $4.38 billion in 2022; marking a trade deficit of $2.88 billion. Ostensibly, the trend will continue unabated, until & unless, there are concerted efforts to facilitate and open up the Pakistani exports to Africa, he added.

Mr. Zaki Aijaz, VP FPCCI, noted that Pakistan and many African nations share common challenges, such as poverty, healthcare, education and geopolitical conflicts. Nonetheless, they have performed better when it comes to exports to Pakistan. There is a huge demand of pharmaceuticals, steel, cement, seeds and tractors in Africa; and, Pakistan should aggressively upscale their export volumes in those sectors as these are low hanging fruits, he added.

Mr. Almas Hyder, Patron of FPCCI’s Policy Advisory Board (FPCCI-PAB), expressed his profound concerns that the neighbouring India has signed approximately 32 trade agreements with the African countries and Pakistan has made no progress vis-à-vis exports promotion. We need FTAs to accelerate exports to Africa and to have trade facilitation and dispute resolution mechanisms under them.

H. E. Mr. Murad Baseer, ambassador of Pakistan in Zimbabwe, informed the session that government-to-government (G2G) contacts are under way to sign MoUs & FTAs with our African counterparts – and, some progress is being made and arrangements will materialize soon.

Mr. Kebour Ghenna, Executive Director of Pan African Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PACCI), highlighted that The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has enabled enhanced trade between African countries and propelled in economic growth as well. Now, both PACCI and its member countries are open to trade agreements with the countries around the world; and, PACCI appreciated Pakistan’s Look Africa initiative as incentivizing trade relations need governmental patronage.

He added that PACCI is looking forward to sign an MoU with FPCCI – the apex body of Pakistan – to encourage business communities of both the sides to hold trade fairs & exhibitions; exchange trade delegations and advocate the formalization of trade agreements with their respective countries.