Deputy President Paul Mashatile says the success of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) depends on the investment in infrastructure in the areas of electricity generation, transportation, as well as freight and logistics distribution.
“This is because Africa’s trade integration has been hampered for decades by the ageing infrastructure and too many regulations which require reforms,” Mashatile said.
Addressing the All Africa Business Leaders Awards on Friday, the Deputy President said investing in infrastructure is crucial to unlocking the potential for Africa to experience growth at faster rates but more importantly, to ensure inclusive diversification.
“In this regard, we welcome the launch by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) of the Africa Trade Gateway (ATG), a suite of five digital platforms providing critical services to support and promote African trade and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
“We must surely invest in infrastructure because it is a critical driver of success across Africa. It makes a considerable contribution to human development and poverty alleviation,” he said.
The Deputy President said Africa is on the accurate path of development and towards one African market.
“As it stands, the AfCFTA agreement has effectively created the largest free trade area in the world, measured by the number of countries participating. The pact connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries, with a combined coarse domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion.
“It has the potential to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty and 68 million Africans from moderate poverty. The formation of the vast AfCFTA regional market is a major opportunity to aid African countries diversify their exports, accelerate growth, and attract foreign direct investment,” Mashatile said.
He said Africa is brimming with opportunities and the continent has what it takes to be distinguished.
“We must dig into our continent’s riches and turn difficulties into possibilities. Africa has a lot of natural resources, which is marvelous news for building value chains. Agriculture and the extraction industries are indispensable parts of value chains at the national, regional and worldwide levels.
“Africa has 60% world’s uncultivated arable land. It makes up 13% of the world’s oil. At least half of the world’s diamond riches are also in Africa. Cobalt, nickel, lithium, manganese, uranium and rare earth metals, which are vital for clean energy and the future, are mostly found in Africa,” the Deputy President said.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces 58% of the world’s cobalt, which is used to produce electronics, and South Africa produces 69.6% of the world’s platinum. – SAnews.gov.za
Mosquit-No
Van is getting married, but he and his fiancee have never done the deed – in fact he\’s never been with any woman before. He\’s getting more and more nervous as the big day approaches, so he confides in his friend. His friend says \’No worries man. I\’ll come by the honeymoon suite before you guys get there, and I\’ll hide behind the curtain, and I\’ll whisper instructions to you.\’
\’You\’d do that for me?\’
\’Sure thing man!\’
So the wedding day arrives, it was a lovely service (so I was told, I wasn\’t there myself) and Van\’s friend sneaks into the honeymoon suite as promised and hides behind the curtain.
Van and his new wife arrive in the room, get settled on the bed, and things are getting steamy.
But Van is still super nervous and his tummy is bubbling, so he murmers to his wife, \’Listen babe, I\’m just gonna go to the bathroom quick. I think it\’s that wors roll from earlier.\’
\’Sure thing babe.\’
So Van goes into the bathroom, and he\’s taking quite a long time. And his wife is starting to feel the nerves herself. And it\’s getting worse. She can\’t hold it in. But she doesn\’t want to go after he\’s gone and totally ruin the mood. So she looks around and finally finds a shoebox. Quickly, she does her business in the shoebox, and she shoves it under the bed just as Van comes back from the loo.
Van gets back on the bed and they go at it again. But after a minute or so Van smells something not so lekker.
\’What\’s that smell?\’
\’Nothing babe,\’ he wife tries to assure him.
\’No man there\’s definitely something not so lekker in this room!\’VSo Van starts looking around the room, in the corners, in the cupboard, and finally he looks under the bed, and sees the shoebox.
He pull it out, and opens it up, and in horror he shouts \’Sies! Daar\’s kak in hierdie doos!\’
And from behind the curtain his friend yells, \’NEE MAN, DRAAI HAAR OM!\”
Crash Test
3. to be injected with the AIDS virus for a slow death.
So the German said, \”Shoot me right in the head.\” Boom, he was dead instantly.
Then the Italian said, \”Just hang me.\” Snap! He was dead.
Then it was Van der Merwe turn , and he said, \”Give me some of that AIDS stuff.\”
They gave him the shot, and Van der Merwe fell down laughing. The guards looked at each other and wondered what was wrong with this guy.
Then Van der Merwe said, \”Give me another one of those shots,\”so the guards did. Now he was laughing so hard, tears rolled from his eyes and he doubled over.
Finally the warden said, \”What\’s wrong with you?\”
Van der Merwe replied, \”You guys are so stupid…..
I\’m wearing a condom.\”