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January 2, 2021, 9:13 AMAddis Ababa, Jan 2 (Prensa Latina) The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, highlighted this Saturday the importance of the African Free Trade Area and congratulated the countries of the continent for using this instrument for their exports and imports.
“The new frontier for our countries is, in fact, regional integration, where minds are open to ideas and companies must generate transformative impacts,” he added. “Boosting trade in terms of respect and equal opportunities helps defuse the most tense relations, generates prosperity, revitalizes pan-Africanism and favors peace,” he said.
In addition to calling it a milestone for the region, the Prime Minister considers it vital to change African economic conditions and relations.
The agreement establishing the AFCFTA was signed in March 2018, in Kigali, Rwanda, and entered into force in May 2019, after the conclusion of the main legal texts.
Except for Eritrea, the rest of the member states of the African Union signed it, 34 countries ratified it and 41 presented tariff offers to the president of the Commission of that organization, the Chadian politician and diplomat Moussa Faki Mahamat.
Creating a single market for goods and services, facilitating the movement of people, achieving monetary union, promoting industrial development and achieving sustainable and inclusive socio-economic growth are some of its most ambitious goals.
rly / omr / otf / raj
