The National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG) has called on the government to exploit the establishment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to open markets in the landlocked nations for Ghana’s tuna industry.

Richster Nii Amarh Amarfio, secretary of NAFAG, makes a strong case for Ghana becoming a tuna hub in the sub-region, noting that the European Union remained the industry’s sole mediator of trade concerns until a sizable market for tuna is established within Africa.

Even though Ghana has enough tuna to meet all domestic and international demand, according to Amarfio, a former secretary of the Ghana Tuna Association, the EU market continues to be the industry’s only source of survival.

“Europeans eat a lot of tuna, both raw and canned. So, the majority of it goes to the EU market; that’s why they have enough control over us,” Amarfio said.

Amarfio, meanwhile, suggested that Ghana may decide to use the AfCFTA as an opportunity to bypass these restrictions by developing the required market on the continent.

Amarfio, moreover, urged the government to keep the industry alive because doing so would have an impact on both people who were directly involved in it and others who were dependent on its operations for a living downstream.

“I have not seen hotels in Ghana use tuna in their dishes other than the canned tuna they use for salads. Creating an internal market could also come in the form of developing dishes that would use tuna.”

The AfCFTA Is expected to increase intra-African trade by over 52% by establishing a free trade single market for products and services to cut down on trade expenses.

Commercial Tuna Fisheries

Commercial tuna fisheries represent a significant part of the blue economy, with seven species—yellowfin, skipjack, bigeye, albacore, and Atlantic, Pacific, and southern bluefin—among the most valuable fishes on the planet. Whether canned or served as high-quality meal, tunas are not only a sought-after commodity, but also an important source of protein in countries around the world. And they also play a vital role as predators and prey in tropical and temperate waters while supporting the livelihoods of many artisanal fishers.

Commercial tuna fisheries contribute more than $40 billion each year to the global economy, according to a report released by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

In 65 years, the world’s tuna catch has increased by 1%, from 500,000 to 5 million tonnes, and demand could reach nearly 8 million tonnes by 2025. In terms of export value of seafood products, tuna is in4th place, behind shrimp, salmon and white fish.

As such, it is important for Ghana to capture part of the global market for tuna by leveraging on the opportunities that AfCFTA provides.

The AfCFTA is one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. It is a high ambition trade agreement, with a comprehensive scope that includes critical areas of Africa’s economy, such as digital trade and investment protection, amongst other areas. By eliminating barriers to trade in Africa, the objective of the AfCFTA is to significantly boost intra-Africa trade, particularly trade in value-added production and trade across all sectors of Africa’s economy.

The AfCFTA Is the world’s largest free trade area bringing together the 55 countries of the African Union (AU) and eight (8) Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The overall mandate of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of approximately US$ 3.4 trillion.