Ghana must use AfCFTA to create tuna market – NAFAG

On July 15, 2023, 9:35 PM

The government has been urged by the National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG) to exploit the establishment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to open markets in the landlocked nations for Ghana’s tuna industry.

According to estimates, the AfCFTA, which has its headquarters in Ghana, would increase intra-African trade by over 52 per cent by establishing a free trade single market for products and services to cut down on trade expenses.

Mr. Richster Nii Amarh Amarfio, Secretary of NAFAG, noted that the European Union remained the industry’s sole mediator of trade concerns until a sizable market for tuna was established within Africa.

Mr. Amarfio said that as a component of the media platform known as “Blue Gold: Ghana’s Economic Transformer,” which was started by the Ghana News Agency, Tema Regional Office, and intended to serve as a comprehensive journalistic interaction with participants and other stakeholders in the blue economy arena,

Additionally, “GNA-Tema Blue Gold: Ghana’s Economic Transformer” connects investors to the blue economy value chain, investigates untapped potential in the sector, and helps policymakers comprehend the difficulties that blue economy participants face.

Even though Ghana has enough tuna to meet all domestic and international demand, according to Mr. Amarfio, a former secretary of the Ghana Tuna Association, the EU market continues to be the industry’s only source of survival.

“Europeans eat a lot of tuna, both raw and canned, so the majority of it goes to the EU market; that’s why they have enough control over us,” he claimed.

According to Mr. Amarfio, Ghana may decide to use the AfCFTA as an opportunity to bypass these restrictions by developing the required market on the continent.

He urged the government to keep the industry alive because doing so would have an impact on both people who were directly involved in it and others who were dependent on its operations for a living downstream.

“I have not seen hotels in Ghana use tuna in their dishes other than the canned tuna they use for salads,” Mr. Amarfio said “creating an internal market could also come in the form of developing dishes that would use tuna.”