Ghana-Eswatini ties: Let’s increase our trade cooperation

 On Tuesday, the King of Eswatini, His Majesty Mswati III, arrived in Ghana to a grandeur welcome for a four-day state visit, under­scoring once again Ghana’s pan African credentials which dates back to pre-independent days. It is the first visit of an Eswatini King to Ghana; a gesture which takes to the next level the Gha­na-Eswatini relations.

Formerly known as Swaziland, Eswatini and Ghana established diplomatic relations since 1978; a decade after it gained indepen­dence from the British, as Ghana in 1957. Both countries are members of the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations and United Nations.

The rationale behind the historic visit is simple: deep­en diplomatic, economic and cultural ties between the two countries. In view of that a memorandum of understanding for Joint Commission for Coop­eration has been signed.

This cooperation agreement must not be one of the many that have been signed with other nations which have not really seen the light of day. It must ma­terialise where trading between the two countries will not be on paper but visible and beneficial to their citizens.

Like King Mswati III himself said in a meeting with President John Dramani Mahama on his arrival Africa needs more inter­nal trade.

“We are here from Eswatini to strengthen the cooperation, the ties between our two countries, and looking forward to see the people of this country and to ex­change a lot of information. We have a lot in common especially when it comes to culture, life­style and trade. Let’s trade more (between ourselves) because if you look at the trade within Africa, you can see that it is very limited,” he noted.

According to the United Na­tion’s Economic Commission for Africa, as at 2022, intra-African trade as a share of global trade declined from 14.5 per cent in 2021 to 13.7 per cent in 2022.

Over the same period, in­tra-African exports declined as a percentage of total exports from 18.22 per cent to 17.89 per cent, and intra-African imports declined from 12.81 per cent to 12.09 per cent, an indication that African countries continue to trade with the rest of the world more than among themselves.

The Ghanaian Times fully backs King Mswati’s observation that the trade between African coun­tries is limited as confirmed by the UN Commission.

Largely an agricultural econ­omy, Ghana can tap into the Eswatini market and become its major overseas trading partner, taking advantage of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocol which allows unimpeded access to each other’s market.

For example, Eswatini is the fourth highest sugar producer in Africa and among the top 10 net exporters of sugar in the world and should Ghana partner with the Eastern African country, its US$170 million annual sugar import bill could be reduced considering the close proximity as it takes steps to revamp its sugar manufacturing industry.

Currently, Ghana’s top two import destinations of sugar into the country are Brazil, US$83 million and India, US$27 mil­lion. The distance to these two countries from Ghana are 3,720 nautical miles (6,800km) and 7,723 nautical miles (14,300km) respectively.

Information available to The Ghanaian Times from the Ob­servatory Economic Complexity (OEC) which offers detailed global trade data, indicates that Ghana in 2023 exported a paltry US$14,200 worth of beauty and hair products to Eswatini. According to the data, that was a decline at an annualised rate of 45.1 per cent decreasing from US$285k in 2018.

On the other hand, Eswatini exported non-knit men and women suits and knit men’s shirts worth US$327,000 to Ghana, a decrease of 41.7 from US$4.85 million over the same period.

The above data indicates that there’s the potential for both countries to expand their export capacities by taking advantage of the AfCFTA and the just signed Joint Commission for Cooper­ation.

The Ghanaian Times urges the relevant agencies in both countries to revisit the existing opportunities and explore new ones to give true meaning to this renewed ties to create the jobs and enhance the economic lot of their respective citizens.