African countries must provide national action plans and strategies to accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and economic integration among themselves, experts have said.
ADDIS ABABA, June 30 (Xinhua) — African countries should provide national action plans and strategies to accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and economic integration among them, experts have said.
The call was made on Saturday during the “National Consultation Forum on Developing Ethiopia’s AfCFTA Implementation Strategy” held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
Speaking on the occasion, Stephen Karingi, Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), said the practical implementation of the AfCFTA could foster industrialization, job creation and investment in Africa.
“I am proud to announce that 36 African countries and three regional economic communities have developed and launched their AfCFTA implementation strategies,” Mr. Karingi said, urging the remaining 19 African countries to develop national strategies to accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA.
He said the implementation of the AfCFTA was progressing well and the ambitious target was to achieve tariff linearization for 97% of trade on the continent.
Mr Karingi, however, noted that infrastructure deficiencies, inadequate transport networks and border facilities remained challenges hampering the speedy implementation of the AfCFTA.
Beyene Petros, director general of the Ethiopian Institute of Policy Studies, said that since the AfCFTA came into effect in 2019, significant progress had been made. In total, 47 member states of the African Union (AU) have ratified it to date since 2019.
“This agreement forms the largest free trade area in the world, comprising 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product of $3.4 trillion and connecting 1.3 billion people across the continent,” Petros said, citing the World Bank.
He called on African countries to avoid the tradition of reluctance in the area of economic integration and develop action plans to create a large single market for African goods and services.
The World Bank estimates that the AfCFTA will lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035, create real income growth of around $450 million and increase exports on the continent by 81%.■
 African countries urged to speed up implementation of AfCFTA – Xinhua){kind=link}