Eastern Africa

Enthusiasm for regional integration, as ECA and Trademark East Africa conduct national forum on the AfCFTA

21 November 2019 (Kampala, Uganda) The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Trademark East Africa (TMEA) launched the National impact assessment report that presented the effects of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on Uganda, during a national AfCFTA stakeholder consultation meeting on 31 October 2019. Emphasizing that regional platforms are “the way to go” for developing countries to overcome trade challenges, the Minister for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives; Amelia Kyambadde, used her opening statement as an opportunity to applaud the ECA/TMEA partnership in supporting regional integration in Eastern Africa. Read More

 

Comoros hosts an AfCFTA workshop to explore how best to benefit from a continental market

21 October (Moroni, Comoros) In support of the efforts to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement and build the capacity of the Comoros to benefit from the opportunities offered by a market of 1.2 billion people, a national sensitization workshop was held on 18 and 19 October in Moroni, Comoros. H.E Mr. Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of Comoros, in his opening statement, stated that AfCFTA is in fact a new model of Africa’s development which is inclusive, sustainable and stand ready to efficiently serve African citizens. He further said that the agreement creating a common African market has been signed by 54 countries since March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda with now 28 countries ratifying the agreement and expressed his hope that Comoros will be among the very next countries that will ratify the agreement. Read More.

Also see related content: Workshop on capitalizing the opportunities of the AfCFTA in the Union of the Comoros, from 18 to 19 October 2019

 

Partnerships at the cornerstone of moving forward the AfCFTA agenda

24 September 2019 (Nairobi, Kenya) - Collaboration between Trademark East Africa (TMEA) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa resulted last week in a dinner roundtable to discuss how to make the African Continental Free Trade Area work for women and youth. Speaking at the event, Andrew Mold, Acting Director praised the collaboration between ECA and TMEA, saying that such partnerships between ECA, TMEA, the African Union Commission, UNCTAD, and others are going to be fundamental in moving forward the regional integration agenda. Read More.

Also see related content: Vibrant discussions take place around Kenya's AfCFTA strategy

 

ECA and TradeMark East Africa partner towards the implementation of AfCFTA

2 July 2019 (Kigali, Rwanda) In an effort to accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA, Trademark East Africa and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) signed in  June 2019 a Memorandum of Understanding, which provides the two parties with the framework to collaborate, with the aim of paving the way for stronger cooperation in helping countries increase their levels of intra-regional trade and investments. To cement that partnership, the two institutions successfully collaborated in an event organised by TradeMark East Africa under the topic:  Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): Women and Youth are Crucial to Africa's Economic Transformation. The session was held during the 2019 European Development Days meeting on the 18th-19th June in Brussels. Read More.

 

Africa’s current pharmaceutical status not sustainable, says Ali Mufuruki

Implementation-AfCFTA27 June 2019 (Addis Ababa) - It is critical that Africa develops its own manufacturing and research capacity, in particular its pharmaceutical industry, says Mr. Ali Mufuruki, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Infotech Investment Group and Vice Chair of the AfroChampions Club. In a keynote address to a Horn of Africa trade forum focusing on the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Mufuruki said the status quo for Africa was not sustainable, especially as pharmaceutical exports to the continent continue to enjoy significant and often trade distorting government subsidies of up to 40 percent making it difficult for local producers to compete. Read More

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Vera Songwe urges Cameroon to lead Central Africa into continental free trade and digital economy

Implementation-AfCFTA22 April 2019 (Yaoundé, Cameroon) – Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) – Ms. Vera Songwe, made a strong case for the country to ratify and take leadership in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement while toning up its digital economy, as she ended her first official visit there recently. “With the AfCFTA, markets open up, demand for goods and services from other parts of the continent increase, and you have an opportunity to improve on supply” to get income that would help power the double-digit growth crucial for Cameroon to attain emergence, she argued in a high-level exchange at the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC). Read More.