Part of the inauguration ceremony (ph)

The headquarters to house the Secretariat of the Continental Free Trade Area (ZLEC) is ready and was inaugurated on Monday in Accra, Ghana. The token key of the CFTA Secretariat has been handed over to the AI Commission.

Presiding over the inaugural ceremony, Ghanaian President Nan Akufo-Addo called on African Union (AU) Member States to work for the implementation of the CFTA so that it becomes operational at the next extraordinary summit in December. According to Akufo-Addo, the CFTA is now the largest free trade area in the world covering a market of 1.2 billion people, with a combined GDP of $3 trillion for the 54 AU countries.

Wamkele Keabetswe Mene, the first Secretary General of the CFTA Secretariat was urged to work towards establishing a strong, efficient and effective Secretariat with the capacity to implement the various trade rules, help build credibility and reduce trade policy uncertainty on the continent.

As a duty done, President Akufo-Addo declared that Ghana has fulfilled all its obligations vis-à-vis the establishment and establishment of the CFTA Secretariat.

Given the low level of intra-African trade compared to that of the European Union, the Ghanaian President explained that this situation hampers Africa's prospects in terms of prosperity for the people. Hoping that Africa rises to this challenge, Akufo-Addo said, “Much of the growth and prosperity that we seek on the continent will come from trade between us. In Ghana, we believe that increased trade is the surest way to deepen regional integration in Africa”.

Akufo-Addo took the opportunity to appeal to all AU member states, which have not yet ratified the CFTA agreement, to take advantage of the postponement of the start date of the exchanges, and to do so by December 2020, to allow States to fully exchange among themselves, so that Africa can benefit from the advantages of the CFTA.

Ghana was designated at the AU Extraordinary Summit in Niamey, Niger in July 2019 to host the headquarters of the CFTA Secretariat which aims to boost intra-African trade. As part of the obligations and commitments under the Headquarters Host Country Agreement, Ghana is required to provide a fully furnished office complex and official residence for the Secretary General.

The agreement entered into force on May 30, 2019 for the 24 countries that have ratified it. Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa and the continent's largest market with 190 million inhabitants, had also signed this free trade agreement. In Niamey, five instruments were launched to make the ZLEC treaty operational. These include tariff offers, the monitoring mechanism aimed at eliminating tariff barriers, the digital customs clearance system,