Almost a year after the formal launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the plan is inching toward the 22-country threshold needed for implementation. Officials from 44 countries signed the framework establishing the trade pact on March 21, 2018, in Rwanda's capital, Kigali. While South Africa has already ratified the deal, Nigeria — one of the continent's other leading economies — has not signed. The United States — which has been renegotiating trade deals with immediate neighbors Mexico and Canada, as well as with China — endorses the African trade bloc, said Bennett Harman, deputy assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa. "The United States is seeking to strengthen U.S.-Africa trade relations in ways that are complementary and support the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and other regional trade efforts," he said in an email to VOA.

Source: Ethiopian News March 06, 2019 15:45 UTC