AFCFTA: SAT advocates intra-Africa tourism master plan

The South Africa Tourism (SAT) has called on African leaders work out modality to create an intra-Africa tourism master plan to boost tourism demands and growth across the African region.

Acting Chief Executive Officer, South African Tourism, Nomasonto Ndlovu, disclosed this at a business roundtable session organised by the South Africa Consulate General in Lagos and Brand South Africa, with the theme Promoting Regional and Continental Trade Through the AFCFTA and BRICS in Africa.

Speaking further, the SAT CEO said that considering the different barriers hindering seamless intra-Africa trade, travels and tourism, it had become important to be strategic in handling the challenges.

She noted that it was high time Africans developed a tourism master plan which would make provision for a downward review of airfares within Africa.

She explained that the master plan should also ensure a uniformity in infrastructural development across Africa and lots of innovations aimed at advancing Africa as a continent.

“It is time we begin to address our problems as a unit and not individual countries. How to promote Africa as a region should be paramount in our minds at this stage of our development

“I will suggest that to improve intra-Africa connectivity, investment, trade and tourism, we must unanimously develop an intra-Africa tourism masterplan.

“The masterplan should entail improvements in our policies, budgets, infrastructures, airfares and every other aspect that will enable us take the world by storm in the areas of trade, investment and tourism,” she said.

Ndlovu disclosed that SAT had been able to develop its film industry through partnership with Netflix.

Earlier, Professor Bobby Moroe, Consul General of South Africa in Lagos, disclosed that the rainbow nation would host the 15th BRICS summit from August 22 to 24.

According to Moroe, BRICS is a group of leading emerging markets and developing countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

He urged Africans to work toward addressing the triple challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment through increased intra-BRICS trade, investment, tourism, capacity building, skills, and technology transfers.

He disclosed that over 17 per cent of South Africa’s exports were going to BRICS member states, while nine per cent of its total imports were from BRICS.

“The total South African trade with BRICS reached R702 billion in 2021 from R487 billion in 2017.

“Given the significance of BRICS to Africa’s developmental agenda, it becomes critical that we create linkages amongst our economies in Africa.

“This will help us leverage available opportunities and provide space to propose new innovations that are aimed at unlocking bottlenecks confronting the AfCTFA in the implementation of its strategy.”

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