CAIRO, Jan 18 (NNN-MENA) – Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, reiterated his country’s support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which commenced earlier this month.
Sisi’s remarks came, during his meeting in Cairo with Wamkele Mene, secretary general of AfCFTA, Egyptian Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said.
Sisi affirmed Egypt’s full support for the activities and work of AfCFTA, which represents a promising start towards continental integration in Africa.
The Egyptian president stressed that, his country is fully prepared to provide its expertise, to help activate the free trade zone, noting that stability is very important, as it provides the appropriate climate for the success of efforts and activities of the agreement.
For his part, Mene expressed his appreciation for the vigorous follow-up of the Egyptian president, to the procedures for launching AfCFTA, during his presidency of the African Union.
Mene pointed out that Egypt was one of the first countries to sign and ratify the agreement.
Trading under AfCFTA began on Jan 1, making it the world’s largest free trade area, in terms of participating member states, after the formation of the World Trade Organisation.
Data from the World Bank shows that the trade bloc, which has so far garnered 54 signatories, covers a total population of over 1.2 billion, with a collective gross domestic product of 3.4 trillion U.S. dollars.
AfCFTA has the potential to boost intra-Africa trade by about 52 percent by 2022, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.– NNN-MENA
