The African Union inaugurates the Permanent Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), an operational basis for Africa's economic transformation; All 54 African states are signatories to the AfCFTA while 28 of them have ratified it

At an inauguration ceremony of the Permanent Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, and the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, recalled, on Monday 17 August, the importance of this organization for the economic transformation of the continent.

"Africa's economic integration will cement the foundations of an Africa that is free from international aid. Africa's new sense of urgency for true self-reliance and its aspiration to achieve it is widely reflected in today's ceremony," said Nana Akufo-Addo.

Ghana was chosen in July 2019 by African leaders to host the body's headquarters, at an AU Heads of State Summit held in Niamey, Niger, which kicked off the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement that is expected to boost trade. equals between member countries. All 54 African states are signatories to the AfCFTA while 28 of them have ratified it.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo called on all member states to ratify the agreement before the next AU summit scheduled for December 2020, "in order to pave the way for a gradual start of trade from 1 January 2021."

"The Covid-19 pandemic only increases the importance of the success that the AfCFTA must achieve," he said. The disruption of international supply chains highlights the need for closer integration between us so that we can strengthen our common self-sufficiency, improve our economies and reduce our dependence on external sources."

The AfCFTA, which represents the world's largest free trade area, has the potential to transform the continent thanks to its potential market of 1.2 billion people and its combined GDP of about US$3 trillion for the 54 AU member states.

The Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, said that the opening of the Permanent Secretariat marked an important step in materializing the vision of African continental integration promoted by its founding fathers.

According to Wamkele Mene, first Secretary General of the AfCFTA, the agreement offers Africa an opportunity to tackle today's biggest challenges in trade and economic development: market fragmentation, the presence of small national economies, over-dependence on commodity exports, too limited export potential, lack of specialization in exports, underdeveloped regional value chains and regulatory and tariff barriers that are still too high they do not promote trade.

"We must act now! We must act to dismantle the colonial economic model we inherited," Said Wamkele Mene.

The African Development Bank Group has awarded an institutional support grant of FIVE US dollars to the AU for the establishment of the Permanent Secretariat of the AfCFTA, whose offices are located in a state-of-the-art complex located in Accra's Central Business District, the Ghanaian capital.

"The African Development Bank congratulates the AU and the AfCFTA on the inauguration ceremony of the Secretariat hosted by Ghana on August 17, 2020. The Bank is pleased to be associated with this unprecedented, pivotal and transformative continental initiative in pursuing the goal of creating the Africa we want," said Solomon Quaynor, the Bank's Vice President for Private Sector, infrastructure and industrialization.

"Our support to the AfCFTA is part of the Bank's leading role at the continental level in enabling the creation of host structures that are essential for the successful implementation of the institutions essential to accelerating Africa's economic development goals," added Solomon Quaynor.

At the ceremony, the current Chair of the African Union, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and the President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, also expressed their satisfaction through a videoconference.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).