Thirty countries in Africa will begin trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) next year as part of measures to implement the AfCFTA agreement, Senior Advisor to the Secretary-General of the AfCFTA, Peter Joy Serwornoo, has stated.
He said currently seven countries have been trading under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative, a programme to help African countries to start trading under the trade pact.
Mr Serwornoo, who disclosed this in an interview with the Ghanaian Times on the sidelines of the Regional Forum on AfCFTA for Anglophone West and North Africa to discuss progress made in the implementation of the trade pact which opened in Accra on Monday, mentioned the seven countries as Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Cameroon, Rwanda and Mauritius.
The three-day programme, organised by Third World Network-Africa, was attended by representatives of civil society organisations, private sector operators, trade unions, women organisations, government officials and policy institutions.
The objective of the programme is to share information and perspectives on AfCFTA, and fashion out an agenda for future engagement with civil society organisations.
Mr Serwornoo said the seven countries had received their certificate of origin, and put in place their customs procedures.
He said Ghana last year exported ceramic tiles to Cameroon, and Kenya exported tea to Ghana, saying, “This was to kick-start the process of implementation of the AfCFTA agreement.”
He said trading under AfCFTA was currently being piloted, and full trading would begin next year.
“A lot more countries would come on board and trade next year,” Mr Serwornoo stated.
Asked about the value of trade between the seven countries, the Advisor to the Secretary-General of AfCFTA said, “It was too early to tell.”
He said the seven countries were trading in about 96 products, including ceramic tiles, tea, air conditioners.
He said the AfCFTA agreement came into force in 2019, adding that the AfCFTA protocol received 44 signatures when the agreement was opened in Kigali in March 2018, and 30 countries signed the Free Movement protocol.
The Senior Advisor to the Secretary-General of AfCFTA described the low signature to Free Movement of Goods as a challenge.
Mr Serwornoo urged member countries to sign the protocol on the Free Movement of Goods.
He said the Trade in Services protocol made provision for business people to move temporarily to deliver a service.
Mr Serwornoo admitted that the implementation of the AfCFTA was not going to be easy.
He said 54 of the 55 African countries had signed onto the AfCFTA agreement, and was left with Eritrea to do so, adding that 47 African countries were State Parties to the AfCFTA Agreement by virtue of their ratifications and deposit of their instruments of ratification.
He said countries such as Benin, Liberia, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Mozambique and Eritrea were yet to ratify the agreement.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
