The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) disclosed that 11 African countries have validated the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement implementation strategies, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
This was disclosed by Mrs Vera Songwe, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, UNECA, at the 39th session of the Committee of Experts on Wednesday.
READ: FG outlines steps to be taken by businesses to export to AfCFTA countries
The countries are Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Niger, Cameroon, Zambia and Zimbabwe, she also added that countries in the drafting phase are: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo, Kenya, Namibia and Malawi.
She also listed countries that were in the inception phase and they include Nigeria, Tunisia, Guinea-Bissau, Benin, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique and Eswatini.
READ: AfCFTA: Promoting non-oil revenue will maximize agreement for Nigeria – NESG
What you should know
- The AfCFTA came into force on January 1 and as at February, 54 of the 55 African Union Member States had signed on.
- Also, the UNECA head said 25 countries had signed up to the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) with potential savings equal to 0.71 per cent of the 2019 Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
- PriceWaterCoopers Nigeria says that the Covid-19 pandemic could pose a risk to African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. It also said that African nations and relevant stakeholders could also turn the agreement into an opportunity for stronger collaboration if certain policies are pursued quickly.
