Source: ED to ink Africa’s biggest free trade agreement – DailyNews Live
STAFF WRITER 21 March 2018
HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa joins African leaders today in
Rwanda where they are set to launch the African Continental Free Trade
Area (AfCFTA) – the biggest free trade agreement since the establishment
of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Mnangagwa was reportedly congratulated by Nigeria’s influential former
president Olusegun Obasanjo for a “peaceful political transition” in
Zimbabwe that toppled authoritarian ruler Robert Mugabe.
A former right hand man of Mugabe, who rose to the presidency through a
soft-coup, Mnangagwa is set to put his signature to an agreement that
will launch the AfCFTA in Kigali today.
The African leaders’ hopes of establishing the world’s largest free trade
area has, however, been hit by the withdrawal of Nigeria from the launch.
Leaders are today setting up the AfCFTA involving 55 African Union members
with a combined GDP of $2,5 trillion.
The UN Economic Commission for Africa has estimated the agreement’s
implementation could increase intra-African trade by 52 percent by 2022,
compared with trade levels in 2010.
“The AfCFTA that we may sign tomorrow (today) is a landmark development
in bringing together all the 55 African countries to participate in a
market of about $1,2 billion,” State TV beamed Mnangagwa speaking at a
Business Forum held at the Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda on the eve
of the launch of the AfCFTA.
“We have Africa which requires clean water and I have no doubt that Africa
as a continent has the capacity to provide clean water for our people.
“Africa needs food security, I have no doubt that Africa working together
and cooperating we have the capacity to secure and guarantee food
security.
“But to achieve this, we need cooperation and dialogue and continuously
conscientising our people, our nations to say together we can succeed.
“Civil society has a role to play, yes sometimes they offend governments
by pointing out the wrongs that governments do but it is necessary that
those are pointed out for us, if we have to remain in power we must
continuously correct the things that are said we are doing wrong and we
will remain ruling and ruling for more years.”
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