By Adedapo Adesanya
The implementation of the African Free Trade Agreement from July 1, 2020 has been postponed due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic outbreak.
This was disclosed by Mr Wamkele Mene, the Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) during a conference call on Tuesday.
“It is obviously not possible to commence trade as we had intended on 1 July under the current circumstances,” he said.
However, despite the postponement, it was not revealed by the AfCTFA official that there was a new targeted implementation date.
The 55-nation continental free-trade zone would, if successful, create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc with 1.3 billion people across Africa.
It has also been categorised as the largest new trading bloc since the World Trade Organization (WTO) was formed in 1994.
The agreement which will allow the establishment of an internal market for billion of African consumers is strongly supported by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), which works in close collaboration with the African Union (AU) and other organisations to support this grand process and to popularise it among the African people and the private sector.
Mr Mene said he was confident the deal would still go forward despite the necessary push forward.
“The political commitment remains, the political will remains to integrate Africa’s market and to implement the agreement as was intended,” he said.
He also 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, that is why with intra-African trade, it could serve the same purpose.
“That’s our stimulus package. That’s how we’re going to get back on track as Africa,” he added.
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