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<\/picture>\u00ab\u00a0We lose a good part of our crops each year due to lack of electricity and cold chain,\u00a0\u00bb said Zinsou, referring to the transport of goods that need to be kept cool across the supply chain.<\/p>\n
These losses could be reduced through infrastructure investment, he added.<\/p>\n
For Diop, \u00ab\u00a0every crisis is an opportunity to transform the situation structurally. There is potential for the economic transformation of African countries by increasing the added value created on the continent.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
‘Gain independence’<\/h2>\n
Some countries have stepped up the pace in recent years. Ivory Coast has built new cashew processing plants, while Nigeria is building a major oil refinery in Lagos.<\/p>\n
In Guinea, foreign companies have recently been tasked with building bauxite processing plants.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0One of the consequences of the pandemic is that many groups wanted to depend less on foreign imports,\u00a0\u00bb said Emmanuel Gadret, head of Deloitte in francophone Africa.<\/p>\n
Georges Wega, deputy director of international banking networks for the Africa region at France’s Societe Generale financial group, believes that Africa has \u00ab\u00a0a lot of potential\u00a0\u00bb to finance its essential projects.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0This is the time for Africa to gain its independence in many aspects. We need to rely more on funds raised on the continent versus external debt,\u00a0\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to harmonise customs tariffs across the continent, which is gradually happening, holds out hopes of boosting intra-African trade.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Africa has been extraordinarily responsive (to the pandemic), financially and technically, and it will be again,\u00a0\u00bb said Zinsou.<\/p>\n
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