The African Union (AU) announced on Thursday the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area, a pivotal project aimed at boosting intra-African trade by 60 percent by 2022.
“This is a historic milestone!” tweeted Albert Muchanga, AU commissioner for trade and industry.
“We celebrate the triumph of bold, pragmatic and continent-wide commitment to economic integration.”
The African Continental Free Trade Area had been ratified by 22 countries by April 29, the requisite number for formally notifying the AU.
That paved the way for it to take effect 30 days later as stipulated in its statutes.
The agreement’s operational phase will be launched on July 7 at an AU summit in Niger. There are still a number of outstanding issues to be resolved, including arbitration measures, certifying the origins of goods, tackling corruption and improving infrastructure.
Fifty-two of the AU’s 55 member states have signed the agreement to establish the free trade area since March 2018, with the exception of Nigeria, the largest economy on the continent.
The free-trade zone is supposed to lead to the progressive elimination of tariffs among member-states, which would encourage trade within the continent and allow African countries to be free from an economic pattern characterized by an excessive concentration on the exploitation of raw materials.
The AU expected the implementation of the agreement to allow an increase of about 60 percent in the volume of intra-African trade by 2022.
If the 55 AU member-states sign the agreement, it will open up a market of 1.2 billion consumers with a total output of more than $2,500 billion.
