AUC Deputy calls on Pan-African business community to take ownership of AfCFTA

Addis Ababa, April 17, 2023 (FBC) – The Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission Monique Nsanzabaganwa, has called on the pan-African business community and the continent’s private sector to start trading by taking ownership of this flagship project, the African Continental Free Trade Area AfCFTA.

The AfCFTA Business Forum is being held from April 16 up to 19, 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa at International Convention Center.

In her statement Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission said that the AfCFTA Business Forum is one of the flagship-events contributing to the acceleration of effective implementation of the AfCFTA.

“As the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement gathers momentum, it is important to allow the pan-African business community to take ownership of this flagship project”, she has stated.

“The African Union Commission, the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area, Member States, Regional Economic Communities, Development Partners have delivered on this flagship project on Agenda 2063, and it is now up to the private sector to start trading, Governments do not trade with each other under the AfCFTA, it is the private sector” the Deputy Chairperson added.

It is stated that 47 Member States of the African Union have ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.