Agriculture Minister Reuben Phiri Mtolo says the African Continental Free Trade Area has immense potential for the economic transformation of the continent.
Chairing the High-level thematic session on Regional Trade Integration at the 5th AU/EU Agriculture Ministerial Conference in Rome, Mr. Mtolo said the AFCFTA presents an opportunity for Africa to use trade as a means of ensuring food security, adding that this would possible by facilitating the movement of food from surplus to deficit parts of the continent.
Mr. Mtolo has highlighted that the African Union theme of the year “Accelerating Implementation of the AfCFTA”: sets the bar high for the African Union 2063 Agenda as it aspires to create the world’s largest free trade area bringing together the 55 countries of the African (AU) with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion aiming to expand the size of Africa’s economy up to €27.1 trillion by 2050.
The Minister stated that Europe plays a critical role in supporting Africa’s regional integration within the continent and the AFCFTA provided an opportunity for Europe to access a vast African continent.
He has however lamented that Africa’s infrastructure gap is a major impediment to trade and investment, citing insufficient transportation and communication networks including roads, railways and ports that exacerbate logistical delays in the movement of goods and transmission of services.
