The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group and the African Union (AU) have signed, on August 8, 2019, a $ 4.8 million grant agreement for the establishment of the Free Zone Secretariat. African Continental Exchange (ZLEC). Albert Muchanga, Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union, and Andoh O. Mensah, representing the Director of the Department of Industry and Trade Development of the African Bank, have in turn signed the document. grant contract.
These USD 4.8 million funds will be used judiciously to support the protocols for the structure and mandate of the FEEZ secretariat based in Accra, Ghana.
Its agreement was approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors on April 1, 2019 and is part of the institution’s actions to accelerate the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement, a real lever for economic transformation of the continent and the integration of 55 countries.
African leaders met in July 2019 in Niamey, Niger. On this occasion, they launched the implementation phase of the free trade agreement concluded in March 2018. At present, 54 states have signed the agreement and are about to enter into formal negotiations. before the effective implementation of the agreement, scheduled for July 2020.
The continental free trade agreement, bringing together 55 African countries with a total gross domestic product of over $ 2.5 trillion, aims to help the continent create the largest free trade area in the world. It is a powerful integration asset that can raise the level of intra-African trade, currently estimated at around 16%.
The trade agreement, meanwhile, is expected to increase intra-African trade by up to $ 35 billion a year, facilitate the flow of goods, services and people across the continent and reduce imports. billions of dollars, while boosting agricultural and industrial exports by 7% and 5% respectively.
« The agreement will help stabilize African countries, and thus enable small and medium-sized businesses to thrive. It will also accelerate the process of industrialization of the continent and thus lift millions of people out of poverty, « said Andoh O. Mensah of the African Bank.
Nadine FULA