Harare - Africa’s leading private sector institutions and corporates have established a Pan-African Private Sector Trade and Investment Committee (PAFTRAC) to serve as an advocacy platform to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and enhance African private sector participation in trade and investment policy formulation, including trade negotiations. A communique issued in Addis Ababa at the just ended of a meeting co-hosted by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Union Commission, said that PAFTRAC would enhance African private sector participation and galvanize the views of the African private sector, mainstreaming them into trade and investment policy making. By providing a framework for effective public-private partnership in the promotion of African trade, PAFTRAC will enhance the integration of Africa into the global economy and contribute to the transformation of African economies in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, the communique stated. Speaking during the meeting, which was co-chaired by Amb Albert Muchanga, African union Commissioner for Trade and Industry, and Prof Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, the former said, “PAFTRAC was an important stepping-stone towards the establishment of the African Business Council provided for under the AfCFTA Framework.” Prof Oramah, according to the communique also said that it was imperative for the African private sector to play a more active role in shaping the parameters of trade and investment policy at the national, regional and continental levels for its own benefit and to achieve the transformation of African economies. PAFTRAC will be driven by a group of leaders comprising chief executives of leading African businesses and financial institutions, representatives of regional African business councils and chambers of commerce. It will also include representatives of African policy and research institutions. According to the communique the meeting elected Prof. Patrick Utomi, founder of the Centre for Value in Leadership, Nigeria, as the first Chairperson of PAFTRAC for a two-year term. In addition to being a successful entrepreneur, Prof. Utomi is a professor of political economy and a management expert. He will be supported by vice-chairpersons drawn from different regions of the continent. PAFTRAC members committed to mobilising wider private sector support for the PAFTRAC initiative and adopted a work programme for the period 2019 to 2021, which will, among others, focus on Trade Finance; Trade Facilitation; Non-Tariff Measures; and Africa’s external trade and investment relations. The PAFTRAC Secretariat will be hosted by Afreximbank. Participating in the meeting were the COMESA Business Council; the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry; the African Business Roundtable; Afro Champions; the Pan-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Ethiopian Airlines; and EBOMAF. Others were the African Development Bank; Ecobank;   ITC; the African Economic Research Consortium; the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; Pan-African University; CERPAC and the World Diamond Council. However, according to the communique OCP, Africa Rainbow Minerals, and Econet were unable to attend but sent messages of support. - Equity Axis News