The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) signed by the African governments earlier this year in Kigali in Rwanda will be the largest free trade area created, since the formation of the World Trade Organisation. It will bring together 55 African countries, with a combined population of more than 1.2 billion people, and a total gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding $2.5tn. The agreement signed in Kigali includes a framework agreement, and protocols related to the trade in goods and services. In terms of the protocol, the AfCFTA members are expected to identify nine priority sectors that will be subject to liberalisation. “These two agreements are projected to increase trade opportunities among the African countries with 52% by 2022,” according to Nassar.

Source: Daily News Egypt December 18, 2018 12:00 UTC