The African Union Commission’s (AUC) Trade Commissioner, Albert Muchanga, said during an ‘Invest in Africa’ webinar that five countries had indicated their intention to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement soon, joining the 35 nations that have already ratified and deposited their instruments.
The number of countries that have ratified the AfCFTA agreement is, therefore, approaching 40 with the continent’s leadership showing immense political will towards achieving its aspirations.
“Right now, I’ve got firm assurances from Zambia, Tanzania, Somalia, Algeria, and Morocco that in due course they would deposit their instruments of ratification”.
Albert Muchanga
The agreement was entered into on May 30, 2019, a year and one month after the treaty was signed, having been ratified by 22 countries – the minimum number required for the treaty to take effect, said Mr. Muchanga, who attributed the achievement to “a lot of very high political commitment from the heads of state and government”.
Through its African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has been working with the AUC and member-states to deepen Africa’s trade integration and effectively implement the agreement through policy advocacy and national strategy development.
The ECA also works closely with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and a selection of independent trade experts with the financial support of the European Union (EU) to support the implementation of the AfCFTA across the continent.
The ECA noted that the AfCFTA holds tremendous prospects of reducing unemployment on the continent which the African Development Bank (AfDB) indicated is mostly common among the youth as they account for 60% of all unemployed Africans.
“As gloomy as the situation may look, it seems there is hope at the end of the tunnel through the game-changing African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The pact has ignited hope that this statistic can be altered and skewed positively towards the economic progression of the young people on the continent”.
ECA
Experts are, however, of the view that the success of the AfCFTA will depend strongly on the development of infrastructure on the continent.
During the just-ended virtual 6th PIDA Week, Honorable Ebrahim Patel, South Africa’s Trade, Industry, and Competition Minister, led a discourse that emphasized the interdependence between infrastructure development and regional economic development to enable and facilitate the AfCFTA.
“Trade and infrastructure development are dependent on infrastructure investment. Economic activities such as driving the production of more goods, require infrastructure. Particularly the ‘big four’, namely electricity, transport and logistics, communication technology and water…Infrastructure development is critical for the future of the continent”.
Alluding to the strong interdependence between infrastructure and regional economic development to enable and facilitate regional trade, Dr. Towela Nyirenda-Jere, Economic Integration Division, AUDA-NEPAD said; “Infrastructure should be developed to act as a catalyst for other economic opportunities such as the AfCFTA”.
Trading under the AfCFTA commenced on January 1 this year after it was postponed for six months last year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The AfCFTA treaty has been signed by 54 out of 55 countries, leaving Eritrea as the sole outsider to date.
The agreement aims to create the world’s largest free trade area with the potential that brings together more than 1.2 billion people with a GDP of over $2.5 trillion and usher in a new era of development.
