China's zero-tariff policy offers opportunities for Africa: Ghanaian president

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama said China's zero-tariff policy for Africa is a unique opportunity for the continent to leverage for greater prosperity.

ACCRA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama said China's zero-tariff policy for Africa is a unique opportunity for the continent to leverage for greater prosperity.

Answering questions from the media during his first major press encounter since assuming power in January, Mahama said late Wednesday that the incentive from China is good news for Africa to increase exports to the Asian country.

"We need to look at the items China imports from the United States and see where we have a comparative advantage to take up those opportunities," Mahama said, listing certain agricultural products as a starting point.

Mahama said African countries, including Ghana, could also diversify their products to export more to the Chinese market with a population of 1.4 billion people.

He said Ghana, for instance, could take advantage of the opportunity to produce more agro-based products for the Chinese market to make up for any lost opportunities in the U.S. market.

"We have arable land and are in the position to expand our production to take advantage of these opportunities, so that the zero tariff will make meaningful sense for us," he said.

Mahama blamed the United States for disrupting the rules-based trade that all countries worked hard to create through various rounds of talks.

The president said the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which provided eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market for thousands of products, came to an end this September and would not be renewed due to the U.S. tariff war, which has imposed a 15-percent tariff on small countries like Ghana.

"Nobody wins tariff wars. It's unfortunate that America is upending the whole world trade system. We all worked toward a rules-based trading system. It took years of negotiation. From there, reasonable tariffs were agreed upon between countries," Mahama noted.

China recently announced the expansion of its zero-tariff policy to cover all 53 African countries with which it maintains diplomatic relations.■