Webinar: Africa Continental Free Trade Area

African Council is inviting you to the Africa Day Conversation

While a continental free trade area (CFTA) did not feature explicitly in the Abuja Treaty adopted by the African Union in 1991 and in effect since May 1994, it was deemed a logical step along the way to a continental Customs Union. The milestone African Union Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment was adopted by the 30th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 29 January 2018. The African Continental Free Area (AfCFTA) was officially launched at the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union in Niamey, Niger on July 7, 2019.  

Furthermore, African Diaspora remains deeply connected to the continent, expanding their remittances over the last two decades. These include contribution to the well-being of families, philanthropic projects that target public services and investments that generate spillover effects in the local economies in the countries and regions of origin. Recent estimates showed that remittances sent by the over 30 million African migrant workers reached more than US$ 85 billion in 2018, supporting over 200 million family members living back home thereby enhancing significantly socio-economic growth.  

This webinar will among others seek to explain the process leading to the AfCFTA agreement, appreciate the role that regional integration could play in Africa’s economic growth and development and critically assess what it would take for AfCFTA to deliver on its mandate, what are the possible impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the implementation of AfCFTA as well as on remittances.

• Prudence Sebahizi, Head of AfCFTA, Directorate of Trade and Industry, African Union Commission AUC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

• AmadouCissé, Director, African Institute of Remittances, AIR, Nairobi, Kenya  

Wednesday, 3rd of June 2020, 15.00 by Zoom

(Link and password can be found in the Infosheet below)

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