African Governments Urged To Implement CFTA Treaty To Boost Trade.

The local business
community has urged African governments to fast-track implementation of the
African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) in order to ease movement of goods
and services in the continent.

The African Continental Free Trade Area is a flagship
project of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 aimed at fast-tracking the
continent’s economic growth and development.

The call has come ahead of the forthcoming CFTA summit to
be held in Kigali later this month.

Annette Uwitonze, a Kigali-based importer,
said  the summit should move beyond signing agreements to implement
the treaty to help boost trade across the continent.

“There is need to facilitate the movement of goods and
services to improve trade between African countries and support the continent’s
development initiatives, including job-creation and poverty eradication.
Therefore, as members of the business community, we would like leaders to
expedite the implementation of the treaty to further facilitate intra-Africa
trade,” she said

During the upcoming summit, continental leaders are
expected to sign legal instruments to establish the Africa free trade area.

Uwitonze is optimistic that the move will help reduce the
cost of doing business across the region and on the continent.

Once it is signed and implemented, it will create huge
market of a combined population of more than 1.2 billion people across 55
African countries and total gross domestic product of more than $3.4 trillion.

Patrick Tuyisenge, a Kigali`-based exporter and a
regional trade expert, said the huge market potential is reason enough to
encourage continental leaders to implement the treaty.

According to Geoffrey Kamanzi, the PSF director for trade
facilitation and negotiations, creating a single continental market for goods
and services, with free movement of people and investments, will pave the way
for accelerating the establishment of the customs union.

“This will help expand intra-African trade through
harmonisation and coordination of trade liberalisation and facilitation across
the region,” he added.

According to trade experts, this agreement is expected to
enhance competitiveness at industry and enterprise levels by enabling
large-scale production and better reallocation of resources to benefit the
large continental market.

In an earlier interview, Prudence Sebahizi, the Chief
Technical Advisor and head of the CFTA unit at the AU Commission’s department
of trade and industry, called the treaty a “business game-changer” that is
expected to result into tremendous positive economic impact on people and the
continent at large.

Sebahizi said the single market will spur
industrialisation, economic diversification and trade.