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South African parliament ratifies AfCFTA

14
Dec '18

The South African parliament recently ratified the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Welcoming the ratification, trade and industry minister Rob Davies said South Africa is expected to deposit the instrument of ratification during the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in February 2019.

The agreement, comprising 55 African nations, enters into force once 22 member states deposit their instruments of ratification. It will then turn the largest free trade Area across the globe.

An integrated market of over a billion people in Africa with a combined gross domestic product of nearly $3.3 trillion will be created, South African newspapers reports quoted Davies as saying.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimates that the AfCFTA will increase intra-Africa trade from the current 10-16 per cent to nearly 52 per cent by 2022.

The AfCFTA was launched during an Extra-Ordinary Summit of African Union Heads of State and Government on March 21 this year in Kigali, Rwanda.

South Africa signed the agreement during the 31st Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in July 2018 in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Forty nine countries have signed the agreement, while Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Eswatini, Chad, Niger, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Guinea Conakry have deposited their instruments of ratification.

The Minister said the AfCFTA is anchored on the development integration approach, which places emphasis on market integration, infrastructure development, and industrial development to boost intra-Africa trade. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India