Cameroon has joined the list of countries that have officially ratified the Agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a month before the start of trade, announced today, the Trade Commissioner of the Commission of the African Union (AUC), Albert Muchanga.
“The Republic of Cameroon has become the 33rd State Party of the AfCFTA to have deposited its instrument of ratification on December 1, 2020,” Ambassador Muchanga said on his Twitter account.
Cameroon’s move comes after Lesotho and Tunisia submitted their own instruments on November 27, leading only 21 remaining countries to ratify the treaty. These are Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Libya. The others are Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
The AfCFTA Agreement entered into force on May 30, 2019 after the treaty was ratified by 22 countries – the minimum number required under the treaty, out of the 54 that agreed to be members of the bloc. Eritrea is the only country that has yet to make a commitment to the continental body.
The exchanges were due to start on July 1, 2020, but were postponed for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The AfCFTA offers the opportunity to create the world’s largest free trade area with the potential to unite over 1.2 billion people in an economic bloc of over 2.5 trillion dollars and usher in a new era of development. It has the potential to generate many benefits through trade expansion, structural transformation, productive employment and poverty reduction.
Through its African Center for Trade Policy, ECA works with the AUC to deepen Africa’s trade integration and effectively implement the Agreement through political advocacy.
ECA also assists member states in developing national strategies for the implementation of the AfCFTA, in partnership with the AUC, the International Trade Center (ITC), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and a selection of independent trade experts with financial support from the European Union (EU).
