- The creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECA)
will allow Africa to speak with one voice on the international stage, Albert
Muchanga, Commissioner for Trade of the African Union (AU).
In an interview given during a three-day national consultative forum hosted by Ghana
on the implementation of the AfCFTA, the AU official said it was essential that the continent
African country can speak with one voice in its trade negotiations with the rest of the world.
“In international economic and trade councils, Africa will now be encouraged to
speak with one voice. This will therefore give more weight to the continent throughout the world," he said.
affirmed.
The African continent is expected to start trading under the terms defined by the AfCFTA by July 2020,
and this free trade area is expected to prove very profitable for the continent in terms of increasing the
intra-African trade.
The experts indicated that this initiative would notably lead to the creation of economies of scale which
enable producers to access a market of 1.27 billion people, and encourage
investors to engage in large-scale, long-term investments.
“When these investments come in, they will create jobs. And through trade liberalization,
we also expect the cost of goods and services to decline,” Muchanga said.