Africa is slowly starting to free trade

Africa is slowly starting to free trade

The African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is launched at the turn of the year. Originally planned for July 1 of this year, the start had been postponed by six months to January 1, 2021 due to the corona pandemic. According to estimates by the World Bank, the free trade area could lift around 30 million people from poverty by 2035, increase the continent's incomes by 450 billion dollars (385 billion euros) and exports within the continent by 81 percent. Trade within Africa is currently still hampered by high import duties and bureaucratic hurdles. Experts therefore warn that the members must implement the agreement quickly and consistently. With all African countries, AfCFTA will encompass a market of 1.2 billion people and be one of the world's largest free trade areas. So far, almost all African countries have signed the agreement and around three dozen have ratified it. With the groundbreaking resolution for an African free trade area, African countries had given themselves a very demanding agenda, said Chancellor Angela Merkel on a visit to South Africa at the end of 2019 before the Corona crisis began. The transition must now be made to a self-sustaining economic upswing in Africa.