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MINISTER DAVIES EMPHASISES THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT FREE TRADE AREA (AFCFTA) TO AFRICA¡¦S DEVELOPMENT

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, recently briefed the media on the outcomes of the AfCFTA by the African Union Extraordinary Summit that took place in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21 March 2018.  Minister Davies reiterated the importance of the AfCFTA for Africa¡¦s development.

¡§The AfCFTA will boost intra-Africa trade and create a bigger market of over one billion people with a gross domestic product of $2,6 trillion that will unlock industrial development¡¨, said Minister Davies. He emphasised that for the AfCFTA to have broader benefits it had to be complemented by cooperation on industrial and infrastructure development, which were key components of the development integration approach. This will ensure that the African continent addresses productive and supply-side constraints.

Furthermore, he stated that the AfCFTA was an economic imperative to address the challenge of small and fragmented markets. It is also being established at a time when the multilateral trading system is facing challenges.

Minister Davies attended an Informal World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministers Meeting on 19 and 20 March 2018 in New Delhi, India. He emphasised that Africa¡¦s overriding economic objectives were to advance integration and industrialisation across the continent in line with Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.

¡§We seek the policy space to pursue these objectives, and the WTO should enable their achievement or at a minimum not impede them,¡¨ said Davies.

 

 

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