World Bank has projected that the East Africa will benefit immensely from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
According to the World Bank, the African Continental Free Trade Area has been well-designed to strengthen the economies of East Africa. However, it noted that this will be accomplished, among other things, by lowering trade expenses related to trade facilitation, as well as decreasing the costs of non-tariff policies and non-tariff obstacles.
Mr. John Bosco Kalisa, the Executive Director of the East African Business Council (EABC), stressed that the implementation of AfCFTA’s policies is sure to boost the East African economy. The director thus, said, “the continental trade protocol is projected to increase real income for East Africans.”
“For the East African Community (EAC) group, swift implementation of the continental trade agreement would be advantageous. Real income is anticipated to rise by 10% in Tanzania, the second-largest economy in the area, between 2021 and 2035.
“Real income will rise by 11.8%, 3.8%, and 3.6% in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, respectively. For three further EAC member states, Burundi, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, no statistics were available.”
Mr. John Bosco Kalisa
According to the World Bank, Tanzania’s and Kenya’s intra-AfCFTA export shares will increase as their total world exports are projected to rise by 28% and 43%, respectively, for the EAC. Uganda and Rwanda are expected to have similar projections of 29% and 33%, respectively.
The AfCFTA agreement, according to Mucai Kunyiha, Director of the EABC board, is a manifest demonstration of the African nation’s commitment to the new system. “They have shown commitment to doing more trade and investments among themselves,” Mucai Kunyiha said.
The two-day workshop on trade-in goods protocol was organized by EABC as part of its GIZ funding program. The implementation of the trade treaty, according to EABC’s goodwill ambassador for logistics and transport, Auni Bhaij, will boost intra-African commerce in manufactured products.
55 companies from Kenya attended the session in Nairobi to learn about the AfCFTA Trade in Goods Protocol and its important annexes. Rules of Origin, Tariff Concession, and Non-Tariff Barriers are the annexes, together with their consequences for firms in the EAC bloc.
Increment in Intra-African Commerce
The AfCFTA agreement aims to increase intra-African commerce by gradually removing tariffs on more than 90 African items. The elimination of non-tariff barriers and trade restrictions on products and services, respectively, are also a part of the goal.
The EAC’s goods exports to Africa were $7.9 billion, or 42% of the overall East African Country goods exports to the globe ($18.7 billion). This information was relayed by Mr. Kalisa last week during a private sector sensitization workshop on the AfCFTA agreement, in Nairobi, Kenya.
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.
