The texts and documents of the African Continental Free Trade Area (Zlecaf), in particular the certificate of origin, the declaration of the supplier or the producer, the declaration of origin and trade are still unavailable, according to the executive director of the General Confederation of Businesses of Côte d’Ivoire (Cgeci), Stéphane Aka Anghui, who spoke on Wednesday, June 23 during a day of explanation of the content of the Zlecaf agreements to economic operators.
Theoretically entered into force on January 1, 2021, the Zlecaf created to strengthen intra-African trade and economic integration represents a market of 1.3 billion people with a gross domestic product of 3 trillion dollars. While 44 countries have ratified the agreement out of 55, the operationalization phase is on hold due to the unavailability of documents allowing harmonization or alignment with the ECOWAS agreements. In addition, three member countries of the West African organization have not yet ratified the Zlecaf agreement, which is also an important blockage to be resolved.
For the executive secretary of the Zlecaf National Committee, Fatoumata Fofana, five sectors are prioritized for the Zlecaf including transport, communication, financial services, tourism. Adding that one of the pillars of this regional integration instrument is to preserve the achievements, that is to say the integrity of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which counts 6126 tariff lines including 5516 lines for only non-sensitive products classified in category A.
According to Fatoumata Fofana, this new free trade area will allow access to new markets with facilitation of trade with other countries and access to foreign direct investment. This area will also benefit, she said, from a mechanism for monitoring and eliminating non-tariff barriers, an African trade observatory, a pan-African payment and settlement platform as well as a facility for adjustment. This explains this awareness day for economic operators who do not yet have all the basics necessary to trade in this area which will require tough competition.
