The President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mansur Ahmed, has been recently appointed the interim chairman of the committee to develop the African Manufacturers Association, according to a statement from MAN.
It said the appointment followed the announcement by the Commissioner of Trade, African Union Commission, Albert Muchanga, at the Intra-African Trade Fair which held in Cairo, Egypt recently.
The statement read in part, “The role of the chairman is to supervise the process of working out the modalities of the association, in conjunction with other members, including drafting Articles of Association for the body in preparation for its inauguration next year.
“In addition, the Director- General of MAN, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, and the Head of Kenya Association of Manufacturers Consulting, Joyce Njogu, were appointed as joint interim secretaries to drive the process.”
While accepting the role, Ahmed stated that he and other members of his committee would commence work on engaging all the manufacturers associations across Africa to mid-wife the birth of the Pan-African manufacturers’ body.
He said, “Now is the time for the private sector to come together to tackle the challenges that hinder intra- African trade.”
The AMA interim chairman further said that the platform of the association would enable manufacturers in Africa to engage, know and work with one another better which would bring about inclusive growth in Africa.
The official inauguration of the AMA is expected to hold before or during the African Industrialisation Day in November 2019, according to the statement.
“The association becomes very necessary as the vision of African countries towards intra-African trade must be fully and effectively implemented with the cooperation of individual African countries particularly their private sector,” he stated.
