The African Union expects the single market to boost trade among the 52 out of 55 member states who have signed the pact. The leaders are rooting for removal of intra-trade fragmentation among African Countries to attract small- and large-scale investments. Sunday in Niamey, Niger 52 out of 53 countries signed the AfCFTA agreement and according to AU the free trade pact will rally all the African people to promote the regional economic growth. The leaders are banking on the AfCFTA to create customs unions that will attract investors boosting the already existing eight regional economic blocs half of which have customs unions. The Sunday meeting saw Nigeria and Benin joined the list of signatories, leaving Eritrea as the only member of the African Union that have not signed into the historic accord. Niamey has become the trade zone headquarters for the AfCFTA while Ghana is the secretariat of the trade zone. The trade deal came into force on May 30, after the deposit of the required minimum 22 instruments of ratification by AU member states to the AU Commission. Now a total of 27 countries have deposited their AfCFTA ratification to the AU Commission after five more instruments of ratification including Gabon and the Equatorial Guinea deposited theirs on Sunday. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission said July 7th will be officially celebrated as the Day of African Integration. “July 7 from now on will be officially celebrated as the Day of African Integration in commemoration of today’s historic...

Unctad’s Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi spoke with JAMES ANYANZWA about the benefits and potential pitfalls of implementing the AfCFTA. July 7 marks the launch of the $3 trillion African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Is it time to pop the champagne? I would advise cautious optimism. The entry into force of the agreement establishing the AfCFTA is a landmark achievement after months of technical work and negotiations, and it should be celebrated. However, some critical issues (notably on tariff schedules and rules of origin) still remain.   The single African market is a great thing, but do you think its implementation will be smooth, given that regional economic blocs have been bogged down by trade disputes and poor implementation of Common Market protocols? It is unlikely that the implementation of an agreement of such breadth and depth will be smooth across the board. Challenges are bound to emerge. As a matter of fact, some have already surfaced in the course of negotiations and are being dealt with. What is important, however, is the need to step up to the challenge and harness the regional market for Africa’s structural transformation. But Africa is not starting from scratch. The experience and lessons learnt in the regional economic communities (RECs) can be leveraged to make the AfCFTA implementation smoother and more effective. One of the key advantages of a bloc like this is job creation. Is there a chance for job seekers from small economies to get employed in the more developed economies? Like many trade agreements,...

The African Continental Free Trade was launched yesterday at the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union in Niamey, Niger. President Paul Kagame described the launch of the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area as a significant milestone for the continent and the African Union. President Kagame said Rwanda was in full agreement of the report by Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou on the way forward on the agreement. Among the proposals in the report include catering for the interest of small-to-medium cross-border traders by simplifying trade regimes applicable to them. “We particularly concur on two points. One, the need to cater for small-to-medium cross-border traders, by simplifying trade regimes applicable to them,” he said. Kagame also endorsed the decision to commence trading under the AfCFTA on July 1, 2020. At the summit, the Executive Council designated Ghana as the choice to host the AfCFTA Secretariat. “I agree with the proposal of the Executive Council designating Ghana as our choice to host the AfCFTA Secretariat. I congratulate them as well,” Kagame said. Following the launch of the agreement and in the build-up to implementation, Kagame called on stakeholders to finalise remaining negotiations and operational instruments. “Our task now is to finalise the remaining negotiations and operational instruments in a timely manner,” he said. Among the ongoing negotiations includes Rules of Origin which will determine the eligibility of goods to be traded under CFTA as well as modalities such as protection of infant industries. At the summit, a number...

The President said through open trade and enhanced people-to-people interactions, the region will be able to deal with the challenges facing its people including poverty. “We must aim to remove all barriers that hinder the free movement of our people across our borders,” President Kenyatta said adding that East Africans are one people with a shared heritage and a common destiny. President Kenyatta spoke when he addressed thousands of Chato town residents in Northern Tanzania who gathered to welcome him during the start of his two-day private visit of the region at the invitation of President John Pombe Magufuli. He cautioned political leaders against making inflammatory remarks saying no one will be allowed to sow seeds of division among East Africans. “How can you tell a Tanzanian not to visit Kenya. You cannot deny Kenyans a chance to do business in Tanzania,” the President said. President Magufuli thanked President Kenyatta for the private visit saying he was honoured to host the Kenyan leader in his home village. He said President Kenyatta has made history for being the first Head of State to visit Chato which is a township in the Geita region. Speaking on the growing trade between the two neighboring nations, President Magufuli said Kenyans own 504 companies in his country worth 1.7 billion US dollars compared to 24 Tanzanian companies in Kenya worth 189 million US dollars. “According to the Kenya Tourism Board, in 2018, Tanzanian tourists visiting Kenya were 222,216 accounting for 10 percent of the over...

African nations are headed for another round of tough negotiations as they seek common rules for their newly formed free trade area even after they settled the headquarters question on Friday. To achieve its goal of boosting intra-regional trade, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) must craft rules of origin (RoO) that encourage imports from members while slowing orders from outside the bloc. A committee of experts is currently working on RoOs to be applied by all the AfCFTA signatories in a move set to test old commercial ties with French and English speaking European countries. “We expect this to be an area for some tough negotiations,” said Chris Onyango, a consultant with the United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). “But there is a starting point as all the regional economic blocs in the continent already have RoOs which the committee may decide just to harmonise.” The Common Market for East and Southern Africa – where Kenya and most of its East African neighbours belong – for instance has its own RoO. The RoOs only permit goods that are either fully produced within the member states or imports with local value addition accounting for at least 35 per cent of the ex-factory cost. Other regional blocs are the Economic Community of West African State (Ecowas) and the Gaborone-headquartered Southern African Development Community. "If successfully implemented, AfCFTA could generate a combined consumer and business spending of $6.7 trillion by 2030, accelerate, expand economic diversification and facilitate job creation...

The port, dubbed Tangier MED, that is in the city of Tangier, is now bigger than other African giant ports — Port Said in Egypt and Durban in South Africa. The port was launched by Crown Prince Moulay Hassan on behalf of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. “We want to establish a business hub and build a network of global trade routes that link Africa to the rest of the world for everyone’s economic benefit,” said Mehdi Tazi Riffi, the port’s general manager. It has the capacity to handle 9 million containers, 3 million passengers, 700,000 trucks and 1 million vehicles. Other than transport logistics, Tangier MED is an industrial platform for more than 900 companies, representing an annual business volume of Sh830 billion. The project was completed at a cost of Sh80 billion through a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP). It presents a good example for African big infrastructure projects, including the Lamu Port that is projected to cost Sh500 billion. According to the Lapsset Corridor Executive Director Silvester Kasuku, Kenya is working closely with the Tangier Port management because the ports’ models are very similar. “We are looking at the best practices from Tangier MED Port and we are focusing on the networking prospects as we encourage inter-Africa trade that will help our people grow economically,” said Mr Kasuku. Using the latest technology, and boasting a workforce of 5,000, the port is a hub of efficiency. It is served by the newly built 345-kilometre speed train that links Casablanca to Tangier....

The African Union launches the “operational phase” this weekend of a long-awaited trade accord, but analysts say the continent faces an uphill task to transform the pact into reality. The 55-nation AU, gathering for a summit in Niger, will give the formal push to a deal to phase out tariffs on trade from the Cape of Good Hope to Cairo. By doing so, say supporters of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), business between African nations will boom. The economy of Africa, with a GDP of $2.5 trillion today, will reach takeoff just as its 1.2 billion population doubles over the next three decades, they predict. “It’s a remarkable achievement, and one that can even be described as historic,” AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat said Thursday in the Niger capital Niamey. Backers were given something to celebrate ahead of the summit: on Tuesday, Nigeria, the continent’s largest and most populous economy, said it would sign after long holding back. Talks on free trade began back in 2002, culminating in a deal that in late May crossed the threshold of ratification by at least 22 countries. That tally is now 25 out of 55 AU members. Benin and Eritrea are the last countries yet to sign. ‘Made in Africa’ The sunny mood may well sour when the AU is confronted with the realities of the task at hand, say observers. “Negotiations on some very important points have not yet been completed,” said Trudi Hartzenberg, director at Tralac, a specialist...

The African Union said on Thursday that it will launch the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) at an Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government on July 7 in Niamey, Niger. According to the AU, the launch will be part of a series of statutory and technical meetings to be held in Niamey between July 4 and July 7. The first coordination meeting between the AU and the Regional Economic Communities is also set to take place on July 8. African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat termed the event as a remarkable and historic achievement. Africa Tembelea has also learnt that the AU said that a decision on the location of the secretariat of the AfCFTA is also expected to be made. The secretariat’s primary mandate will be the implementation the agreement. Seven countries have submitted bids to host the secretariat. They are: Egypt, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar and Senegal. The AU’s Executive Council will elect four board members of the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption and prepare the draft agenda and decisions for the 12th Extraordinary Assembly that will launch the AfCFTA. The AU noted that the launch of the operational phase means that traders across Africa will be able to make use of preferential trading arrangements offered by the AfCFTA AfCFTA came into force in May after a minimum of 22 ratifications by member states of the AU were deposited. Three additional instruments of ratification have been deposited;...

African leaders will decide on Sunday which nation will host the headquarters for a continental free-trade zone that aims to eventually unite the continent’s 1.27 billion people and its $3.4 trillion nominal gross domestic product. Leaders at the African Union summit in Niger will also set a date for trading to begin in the African Continental Free Trade Area, a deal that 52 of the continent’s 55 states have signed, although only 25 have ratified it. The bloc aims to ultimately remove trade barriers and tariffs between members. WHICH COUNTRIES WANT THE HEADQUARTERS? Under the Addis Ababa-based African Union’s rules, all of its 55 members may bid to host the headquarters. Kenya, Ghana, eSwatini, Madagascar and Egypt are all in the race. Ethiopia and Senegal have pulled out. Those in the race represent the continent’s main regions: Kenya from the east, Ghana from the west, eSwatini for southern Africa, Madagascar for the Indian Ocean islands and Egypt representing the north. Egypt holds the AU presidency this year and has been promoting itself as a linchpin for African trade. “Egypt is one of the oldest members of the African Union and enjoys strong relations with African states,” said an official from Egypt’s trade ministry. “We have all the requirements.” WHAT ARE THEIR CHANCES? Kenya and Egypt already host head offices for other international bodies and are well connected by established national airlines. Kenya hosts the headquarters of the U.N. agencies for the environment and for urban development: UNEP and UN-Habitat. Egypt...

Speaking in Dar es Salaam earlier this week, Deputy Secretary General of the EAC who is in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, Christophe Bazivamo said the portal which is already designed, targets to enable women entrepreneurs exploit the over a billion continental market. Bazivamo pointed out that through the 50 Million African Women Speak Networking platform project, the EAC Secretariat received over U$3.52 million grant from African Development Bank (AfDB) to implement the three year project for the period 2017/20. “The grant among other things is also aimed at educating governments, financial institutions and not-for-profit organizations on the importance of empowering women entrepreneurs through easy access to finance,” the EAC Deputy Secretary General said. Wilson Muyenzi who is the 50MWS Project Coordinator from EAC Secretariat, clarified that the main objective of the portal is to enable women entrepreneurs from the region to communicate directly and share information and exploit Africa’s largest post independence market covering 38 countries. “Our findings together with AfDB shows about 54 per cent of the EAC region’s population are women whereby 65 percent of them engage in agribusiness and trade. Bringing them together through this platform means a lot for the continent’s economic destiny,” said Muyenzi. According to him, there are about 950 million women from the 38 countries where the project is being implemented out of which 500 million are entrepreneurs with at least 10 percent are being targeted. “Access to finance by women has been a challenge. We started by educating banks and...