By Abdi Ali
Published November 18, 2021
African leaders have called for the aggressive promotion of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The leaders have spoken during the biennial Intra-African Trade Fair (November 15 – 21, 2021) that has attracted 1100 exhibitors and 11,000 registrations to Durban in South Africa and is expected to produce deals worth about US$40 billion.
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Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the AfCFTA secretariat, said the pact would not succeed without the private sector, small and medium enterprises, and young entrepreneurs. Citing the case of the European Union, he said the journey to market integration was difficult and took time.
“We as Africans will have to roll up our sleeves, work hard, and ensure that we overcome the challenges. I’m very positive about the prospects of the future of our continent, based on the very first steps that we’ve taken to overcome the challenges of market fragmentation,” Mene said.
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AfCTA, which became effective in 2021, aims to become the world’s largest trade zone since the World Trade Organization in 1994, with the potential to boost African incomes by billions of dollars in the next decade.
Citing successful deals from the maiden Trade Fair, Benedict Oramah, CEO of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), dismissed skepticism about African countries’ ability to significantly boost trade among themselves, which currently stands at around 18% of total goods that cross national borders.
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Intra-African Trade Fair, that was launched in 2018 to be a springboard for AfCFTA, is organised by Afreximbank in collaboration with African Union (AU) and AfCFTA Secretariat and brings together development, trade and investment communities to negotiate deals and agree on the steps required to promote intra-regional trade.
The organisers say the inaugural 2018 Trade Fair delivered deals worth about US$32 billion, of which around US$25 billion had been implemented and another US$2.5 billion are being processed.
The next Intra-African Trade Fair will be held in 2023 in Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire).
