A historic deal to smash down tariff barriers within Africa is being braked by the coronavirus pandemic and a thicket of negotiating problems.
It aims to phase out all tariffs on commerce on the continent of 1.2 billion people, a goal that backers say could give trade a mega-jolt as only 15 percent of trade by African nations is with continental neighbours compared to 70 percent with Europe. Mene, who was sworn in in March, himself works in Addis, as AfCTA’s headquarters in Accra, Ghana, have yet to open because of the pandemic.Talks on the AfCFTA got underway in 2002 and inched towards an agreement that officially began life on May 30, 2019 after it crossed a threshold of ratification by at least 22 countries.
“I know that Nigeria is committed to the agreement that we signed for the AfCFTA but of course COVID-19 has caused a delay in almost everything,” Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed said.In a shock move last August, Nigeria dramatically closed off its borders with neighbours, a move that it said aimed at preventing smuggling.
Then there is the task of figuring out how AfCFTA should dovetail with eight existing regional organisations in Africa, such as ECOWAS and the six-nation East African Community .
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