African free trade deal AfCFTA to commence on Jan. 1, 2021

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By Amwal Al Ghad English
Ambassador, Dr. Namira Negm, African Union’s Legal Counsel
Ambassador, Dr. Namira Negm, African Union’s Legal Counsel

The implementation of a mammoth African free trade agreement will begin on January 1, an official in the African Union (AU) announced on Monday.

“One of the key outcomes of the African Union’s virtual 13th Extraordinary Summit in South Africa is the Johannesburg Declaration, which stipulates that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) shall be launched on January 1st, 2021.” Ambassador, Dr. Namira Negm, AU’s Legal Counsel said in a statement.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would, if successful, become the largest since the creation of the World Trade Organisation in 1994, aiming to bring 1.3 billion people together in a $3.4 trillion economic bloc.  It will create a single market for goods and services and movement of persons to increase intra-African trade.

Its supporters said such a bloc will boost living standards, encourage development and make Africa less dependent on trade with other regions.

The continental free-trade zone will be brought into effect in stages, the first being to establish a protocol for trade in goods and services and dispute-settlement rules. The second is set to cover competition, investment, and intellectual property rights.

To date, 30 out of the 55 states – including Egypt – in the African Union have both signed and ratified the AfCFTA. Only Eritrea has yet to sign, according to Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa (TRALAC), a South Africa-based trade law organisation.

A recent World Bank study showed that, if implemented effectively, by the year 2035, the AfCFTA has the potential to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty and 70 million people out of moderate poverty.

The 13th and final session of the assembly of the African Union Heads of State and the Governments on AfCFTA has taken place as African nations put their final thumbs of approval on the agreement before it commences on January 1, 2021.

Speaking during the assembly, Wamkele Mene, the Secretary General of AfCFTA said:

“Africa is on the cusp of a historic milestone which started when the AfCFTA was signed in Kigali, Rwanda, in March 2018.

As of today:

    • 54 countries have signed the agreement
    • 34 countries have deposited their instruments of ratification
    • The Federal Government of Nigeria deposited their instruments on December 5, 2020
    • 41 countries and customs unions have submitted their tariff offers
    • The East African Community (EAC) and ECOWAS have submitted their offers in the last few days

This effort positions the AfCFTA for a truly commercially meaningful start of trading on the start of January 2021.”

 

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