by Daniel Abugre Anyorigya & Benjamin Abugri
The Chair of the CAAPs Technical Working Group, Dr. Janet Edeme, says Ambassador Josefa Sacko aims to leave “something tangible for her successor” as her tenure ends in February 2025.
In an interview, Dr. Edeme highlighted Amb. Sacko’s commitment to advancing the CAAPs, particularly the Zimbabwe-Zambia CAIP and Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire Cocoa CAAP, is crucial to the agricultural transformation agenda of the AU Agenda 2063.
Speaking at a three-day retreat in Harare, Zimbabwe, Dr. Edeme, who also serves as the Acting Head of the Agricultural Food Security Division, reiterated the importance of completing pre-feasibility studies for both the Zambia-Zimbabwe CAAP and the Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire Cocoa CAAP before Amb. Sacko’s tenure concludes in 2024.
“One of the quick wins we can achieve from the CAAPs program is that Zambia and Zimbabwe have proactively provided resources through COMESA, the Aboriginal Economic Community, for a pre-feasibility study. If we can secure additional resources to finalize and complete the feasibility studies for the Zambia-Zimbabwe Common African Agro-Park, it will be a concrete achievement by February next year,” she stated.
Dr. Edeme added, “we also have the Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire Cocoa CAAP. If we can get these two deliverables on the table, especially the pre-feasibility studies, it will be a significant accomplishment for Commissioner Sacko and something concrete she can leave for her successor.”
Ms. Esther Mwimba, COMESA
Ms. Esther Mwimba, representing the Director of Industry and Agriculture at COMESA, provided updates on the Zambia-Zimbabwe CAAP, where both member states have agreed to initiate a Common Agro-Industrial Park (CAIP).
She clarified that the CAIP “is just one of the projects identified by the two member states, among other initiatives they have planned.”
The overall goal of the CAIP “is to contribute to the industrialization strategy of both governments (Zambia and Zimbabwe) to drive the structural transformation of the economy, transitioning from traditional exporters of fresh produce to industrial hubs of agricultural produce through agro-processing and value addition.”
Ms. Tawiah Agyarko-Kwarteng from CIGCI expressed optimism regarding the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa CAAP. She mentioned that a technical paper has been submitted, leading to the appointment of “two representatives from each relevant body (COCOBOD and CCC)” to collaborate with the secretariat.
“As we move forward, this endorsement and approval allow us to work closely with the CAAPs Secretariat to map out the next steps and determine what needs to be done with the focal persons from each country,” she added.
About the CAAPs
The Common African Agro-Parks Programme (CAAPs) was initiated in 2019 as one of the concrete initiatives of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Programme (CAADP) to be implemented within the framework of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 in order to achieve the CAADP Malabo commitments, particularly the commitment to “triple intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services.”
CAAPs emerged from the major recommendations of the inaugural CAADP-Biennial Review (BR) Report presented to the 2018 AU Assembly of Heads of States, where recommendations were formulated for the AU Commission to initiate continental actions that shall aim at: i)- boosting regional trade for agricultural commodities by increasing locally processing of key agricultural products and their respective value chains; ii)- promoting and facilitating increased consumption of locally and regionally produced agricultural commodities; iii) -achieving self-sufficiency and lowest possible importation of key agriculture commodities in Africa; and iv)-stimulating local and regional private sector investments in agriculture. The implementation of the CAAPs will assist Africa in reclaiming the roughly USD50 billion per year African Food Import Market, which is currently outsourced to the rest of the world.
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