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Kangiwa, Okupe, others underscore importance of Tourism, Transportation Summit on AFCFTA

As preparation for this year’s edition of the Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo organised by the Institute of Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN), gathers momentum for its November 15 and 16 dates at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, a lot of interests and discussions are being generated around the summit. Of particular interest to people this time, is the theme for this year’s edition, which many people say is of most importance and has in a way placed some burden on the organisers of the annual summit and expo to achieve the set goals and live up to its promises more than ever.

The theme; Tourism Transportation Connectivity and Partnership: Leveraging the AfCFTA Regime for Economic Sustainability, has received the commendations of the Director General of the National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa, Dr. Adun Okupe, a tourism expert and of Red Clay Advisory, and Dr. Belinda Nwosu, faculty member of Lagos Business School and tourism expert.

Also, this commendations and the summit and expo itself, is coming on the heels of the recent comments on AFCFTA by the Chairman of Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the Director General of Nigeria Standard Organisation (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim, with Dangote calling on governments in the continent to take concrete steps in the implementation of AFCTA while charged businesses to maintain standards in order to remain competitive.

According to the president of ITPN, Chief Abiodun Oodusanwo, the need to ensuring sustainability of economic growth and development in transportation and tourism sectors as well as other allied sectors, is very importance hence the theme for the summit, which is in its fourth year. Organised in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Federal Ministry of Aviation, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Federal Capital Territory Administration, the Organised Private Sector and relevant organisations and critical stakeholders in the travel, tourism and transportation sectors, Oodusanwo said of the theme: ‘‘It is in line with the strategic framework for delivering on Africa’s goal for inclusive and sustainable development through accelerated Intra-African trade and to boost Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations.’’

He further stated that: ‘‘In reaffirming the need for developing programmes of international cooperation within the African continent in order to improve and strengthen the basic conditions for the sustainable development of tourism transportation industries, the International Tourism Transport Summit for the 2021 seeks to deliberate on the complex relationship between transport provision and tourism in boosting the economy of the continent via a single market for goods, services, facilitated by movement of persons and to deepen the economic integration of the African continent in accordance with the Pan – African vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.

‘‘Summit and expo is seen as critical to the development of the country’s economy as its deals with issues relating to bridging transport and tourism policies and the creation of a liberalised market for easy and free movement of goods and services. Therefore, it is expected among others to highlight and bring to the front burner policy implementation modules developed for successive rounds of negotiation among trading partners of the African continent.

‘‘Since its inception, the summit and expo has become a veritable platform for the various participants to showcase and market their transportation and tourism services to both national and international cross-sectorial delegates from aviation, maritime, railways, airport operations, road transportation, national and international travel, and mass transportation operators in different industries.

‘‘This year’s edition will further build on this mixed level of participation in line with the regional integration efforts of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS).’’ According to the DG of NIHOTOUR, Kangiwa, the choice of the theme for the summit and expo this year is apt because it will among others offer platform for the stakeholders to dissect the opportunities available within the AFCFTA and how to latch on to them. Therefore, he commended ITPN and its partners for the thought that has gone into choosing the theme: ‘‘The annual Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo which was instituted to explore the inter-link and connectivity between Tourism and Transportation shows how much connected the two are especially for the benefits of the tourism industry which thrives on transportation. ‘‘It’s a known fact that travelling via the various means of transportation; land, air and sea, is at the hub of tourism activities.

Therefore, the choice to link the Summit with AfCFTA for the 2021 edition is apt because it will x-ray and explore the inherent benefits and opportunities for a free continental movement of goods and services among African countries thereby easing tourism activities amongst them. ‘‘Once there is ease of movement via transportation linkages, tourism activities will be conducted with ease thus providing a healthy platform for the industry to grow.

Linking The African Continental Free Trade Area Af- CFTA with the Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo is very appropriate in opening up the frontiers of African tourism potentials to the continent in particular, and the global community at large.’’ While on her part Dr. Okupe, who is also a faculty member of Lagos Business School, said: ‘‘The theme for this year’s Tourism, Transportation Summit and Expo is; Tourism Transportation Connectivity and Partnership: Leveraging the AFCTA regime for economic sustainability. ‘‘AfCFTA presents several opportunities for the travel and tourism industry.

One is that of access, with free flow of movement of people from place to place, we can have the intra-Africa travel routes we so desperately need. This will have knock-on effects on business as well, as when people can move from place to place, trade and investments naturally follow.

‘‘This brings me to my second point on the importance for AfCFTA to also contribute to a stronger African marketplace both for goods and for services. To do this, we need to remove the opaqueness in some of the AfCFTA guidelines and provide a stronger implementation plan on how the objectives of AfCFTA are to be achieved, broken down into sub-regions and countries. ‘‘Finally, monitoring and tracking the impact of AfCFTA on the travel and tourism industry needs to be done, so we can identify areas required for more focus, and celebrate achievements.’’

Dr. Nwosu, who has just returned from a trip to Rwanda where she attended a conference that also has bearing on the need for AFCTA to begin to take centre stage in discourse around the continent, is quite enthusiastic and optimistic about the prospects of AFCTA. ‘‘The free movement of people within Africa will definitely facilitate trade, inter-regional cooperation and economic growth. This is what the Africa Free Continental Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) hopes to achieve,’’ she said, adding that: ‘‘African nations will now complement each other by filling trade and service gaps across borders.

‘‘According to Wale Opeyemi CEO of JR Farms (our de facto tour guide on this trip), ‘with free movement of people, intra-Africa tourism is expected to surge as Africans explore destinations in Africa – from the gorillas and hills in Rwanda, to the safaris in Kenya, the beaches in Senegal, the pyramids in Egypt and many more.’ At ALU, we saw first-hand how this will promote intra-Africa unity and yield development dividends. Noted as Africa’s richest man, Dangote called on African governments to speed up African Continental Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement implementation in a bid to enjoy the potential benefits of AfCFTA in terms of trade and economic opportunities.

He stated that it is vital for African governments to continuously focus on removing barriers to competitiveness in the continent to boost trade facilitation and economic expansion, as he said that: “Given the potential benefits of Af- CFTA, my advice to all involved would be to speed up implementation as there are quite a number of issues which still need to be addressed.

It would also be good for them to study the reasons why the previous trading blocs did not enable intra- Africa trade to exceed 15 per cent of total trade and what can be done differently. “These problems don’t suddenly disappear under AfCFTA.

It is therefore vital for governments to continuously focus on removing barriers to competitiveness.” He further stated: ‘‘That is the real ease of doing business, not how many days it takes to register a company. Neighbouring countries should also collaborate on their industrial policies and identify areas where one country has a clear advantage in production of a particular good.’’

Salim challenged business to uphold the highest quality standards in order for them to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Salim said this becomes necessary if they are to take their rightful place in the continent and attract global market.

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