01/01/2021
The African Continental Free Trade Area began today on Friday 01st of January 2021.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area founded in 2018, with trade commencing as of 1 January 2021. It was created by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union nations. The free-trade area is the largest in the world in terms of the number of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organization. Accra, Ghana serves as the Secretariat of AFCFTA and was commissioned and handed over to the AU by the President of Ghana His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo on August 17, 2020 in Accra.
The general objectives of the agreement are to:
- create a single market, deepening the economic integration of the continent
- establish a liberalized market through multiple rounds of negotiations
- aid the movement of capital and people, facilitating investment
- move towards the establishment of a future continental customs union
- achieve sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, gender equality, and structural transformations within member states
- enhance the competitiveness of member states within Africa and in the global market
- encourage industrial development through diversification and regional value chain development, agricultural development, and food security
- resolve challenges of multiple and overlapping memberships
Watch: https://zcu.io/9GYK