Paul Kagame, the new incumbent president of the African Union, convened an extraordinary meeting of the heads of state and government of the continent, in Kigali, 21 March 2018.
A meeting that aims to formally launch the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA).
According to Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria, “the launch of this zone demonstrates the willingness of African countries to move towards successful integration and to pool efforts for the successful completion of community projects”.
The weakness of the continent’s infrastructure network is one of the major obstacles to the development of intra-African trade, investment and private sector development.
According to the findings of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the CFTA is expected to increase 52% of intra-African trade by 2022, or 35 billion.
However, there is a need to implement measures to improve trade-related infrastructure, harmonize and streamline customs procedures and reduce transit costs and other trade costs.
The Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) is a free trade area project under development in much of Africa.
The creation of this zone was decided in 2012, by the African Union. Its start was scheduled for October 2017.
It should bring together the tripartite Free Trade Area, which should include the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community ( SADC), with the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Arab Maghreb Union and the Community of States Sahel-Saharan.
The project aims to bring together a total of 54 states in a free trade area.
