Important progress has been made toward establishing the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) of Africa, an Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) official said on Tuesday.
Stephen Karingi, acting director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division (RITD) at ECA, made the remarks ahead of the 10th Session of the Committee on Regional Cooperation and Integration, scheduled for Oct. 31-Nov. 2 in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
The session is expected to review developments in international trade, and progress made by African countries in regional integration, infrastructure, food security, agriculture and land.
The CFTA will bring together all African countries with a combined population of more than 1 billion people and a combined gross domestic product of more than 3.4 trillion U.S. dollars once it takes effect.
“While recognizing that CFTA is not a silver bullet whose implementation would work out Africa’s developmental challenges, CFTA adoption and implementation is certainly a right step at the right time toward advancing Africa’s development agenda,” said Karingi, who also serves as director of the ECA’s Capacity Development Division.
“The millions of food-insecure people on our continent; the energy and income-insecure are all eagerly looking for an ambitious outcome of the negotiations and the adoption of CFTA,” Karingi said.
The inaugural meeting of the negotiating forum was launched in February 2016, with a commitment to complete the first phase of CFTA negotiations by the end of 2017.
“The 10th session of the Committee on Regional Cooperation and Integration will take place at a time of renewed commitment for accelerating the establishment of the CFTA,” Karingi said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua/NewsGhana.com.gh
