Togolese leader in Zimbabwe urges Africa to enhance intra-trade

Visiting Togolose President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe on Friday urged African countries to deepen regional integration and enhance intra-Africa trade.

The president made the remarks while opening the 57 th edition of Zimbabwe's annual premier trade show, the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, in the second largest city of Bulawayo.

He said the continent needs to work harder in removing non-tariff barriers and ride on innovation, integration and industrialization to boost trade within Africa.

African governments also need to improve free movement of goods and services across borders, the Togolese president said, noting that people living across borders mingled and mixed freely than the way facilitation of goods, people and services was done by government agencies at borders.

"It needs a lot of political will to accelerate this integration. We need to put in place infrastructure for regional integration," he said.

Investing in research development and technology transfer would also help the continent to upgrade its exports from primary to finished products thereby helping to create employment and address widespread poverty on the continent, Gnassingbe said.

He also urged African governments to improve the business climate by putting in place efficient administrations to fight corruption, another scourge afflicting the continent.

About 400 exhibitors participated at this year's five-day trade fair with sixteen countries taking part.

The trade fair ran under the theme: "Innovate, integrate and industrialize".