AFCFTA COULD SEE LIGHT OF DAY

MBABANE – As efforts to host the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat in the kingdom gain momentum, the trade pact could also soon see the light of day.

With Ethiopia’s decision to ratify the AfCFTA last week, the trade pact is just one country shy of implementation, according to Ventures Africa. For the agreement to take effect, 22 approvals are required and so far 21 countries have ratified their instruments.

The publication reported that Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Stephen Karingi revealed that the remaining items for discussion on the AfCFTA were competition, provisions for investment, intellectual property and e-commerce.
It was reported that more so, the protocols on goods, services and dispute settlement have been completed and their annexes will be ready by July.
The continental pact was launched during the March 2018 African Union Summit in Kigali, where it was signed by 44 States. Since then, eight more have signed. The exemptions are Eritrea, Benin, Nigeria and Tanzania.

However, it was stated that signing the agreement does not yet establish the African free trade area. It will function as an umbrella to which protocols and annexes will be added. Once all documents are concluded and ratified by 22 States, the free trade area will formally exist.

To date, 16 countries have deposited their instruments of AfCFTA ratification with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Meanwhile, five others have received parliamentary approvals for ratification.

It was pointed out that countries from Southern Africa which have ratified include Eswatini, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe have ratified, while the AU has secured ratifications from Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti, Rwanda and Ethiopia in East Africa.

Approval

Egypt is the only northern African country with parliamentary approval to ratify the deal.
In Central Africa, Chad and the Republic of Congo have ratified while West Africa has the most ratifications including from Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Sierra Leone.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: