Accra: The National Youth Authority (NYA) CEO, Osman Abdulai Ayariga, has issued a warning that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) may not fulfill its potential if it remains focused solely on goods, neglecting the essential component of talent mobility and protection for Africa's youth. Ayariga emphasized the need for a more inclusive approach during his keynote address at the Africa Prosperity Dialogues, themed 'Africa Without Borders: Youth, Creativity, and Power in an Integrated Africa.'
According to Ghana Web, Ayariga highlighted that while AfCFTA has successfully established a single market encompassing over 1.4 billion people with an economic output exceeding US$3 trillion, the true foundation of markets lies in people rather than goods alone. He cautioned that a goods-only approach would structurally disadvantage Africa's youth.
Ayariga stressed the significance of focusing on services, digital production, and creative industries, which are the fastest-growing segments of the global economy and are driven by skills, mobility, and innovation. Despite Africa's potential, the continent currently captures less than one percent of global creative economy value, a shortfall he attributes to policy failures rather than a lack of talent.
He pointed to Nigeria's film industry, Nollywood, as a model for the possibilities that arise when creative ecosystems attract investment. Between 2016 and 2022, global streaming platforms poured approximately US$40 million into Nollywood, enabling African stories to reach a global audience on a large scale. Ayariga argued that culture has transcended its role as soft power, becoming a tool for economic and diplomatic influence.
Furthermore, Ayariga called on African governments to invest strategically in cultural diplomacy to avoid being defined by external influences. He urged for immediate political action, advocating for mutual recognition of skills across borders, labour-sensitive mobility frameworks, and a managed free-movement regime that allows Africans to live, work, and create across the continent with dignity.
He concluded by noting that Africa's youth are already borderless in their imagination and ambition, and that policy needs to catch up with this reality.