This archive report was first published on 5 July 2020.
Africa free-trade vision clouded by virus and pace of talks ¶
Published on July 5, 2020
As the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) was set to take operational effect on July 1, the timeline has slipped due to complications caused by the Covid-19 outbreak and the slow pace of negotiations.
The AfCFTA aims to phase out all tariffs on commerce on the continent of 1.2 billion people, a goal that backers say could give trade a mega-jolt as only 15 percent of trade by African nations is with continental neighbors compared to 70 percent with Europe.
"Everybody can see, objectively, nothing can be done on the 1st of July," AfCFTA's secretary general, Wamkele Mene of South Africa, told AFP. "Forty-two countries out of 55 in Africa are either in full or partial lockdown."
A new date for January 2021 has been proposed by ambassadors at the Africa Union's headquarters in Addis Ababa. The recommendation has yet to be adopted by heads of state.
"It really all depends on the pandemic," Mene said.
Despite the challenges, the AfCFTA has made significant progress since its inception in 2002. The accord was officially launched on May 30, 2019, after it crossed a threshold of ratification by at least 22 countries.
However, Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, with around 200 million people, still has not ratified the agreement, along with Algeria and energy exporter Angola.
"I know that Nigeria is committed to the agreement that we signed for the AfCFTA but of course Covid-19 has caused a delay in almost everything," Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed said.
"So, we may have to revisit the effective period for which this will start."
