Babajide Okeowo
The launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement earlier scheduled for July 1, 2020, will no longer come into effect due to the disruptions caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, a senior official has revealed.
Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area made this disclosure while expressing his confidence that the deal will still go forward.
“It is obviously not possible to commence trade as we had intended on 1 July under the current circumstances. The political commitment remains, the political will remains to integrate Africa’s market and to implement the agreement as was intended” he said
Mene did not say whether there was a new targeted implementation date, and left the conference call before the question and answer session.
The 55-nation continental free-trade zone would, if successful, create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc with 1.3 billion people across Africa and constitute the largest new trading bloc since the World Trade Organization formed in 1994.“
Mene said that as African governments do not have the firepower to launch the same type of economic stimulus packages that the United States and Europe are putting forward to mitigate the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, intra-African trade could serve the same purpose.
“That’s our stimulus package. That’s how we’re going to get back on track as Africa” he said.
