ECA, AfCTA sign landmark MoU
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to bolster intra-African trade.
The agreement, signed on Monday during the Africa Business Forum 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, establishes a framework for collaboration across key areas crucial to the AfCFTA’s success.
The MoU outlines joint efforts to tackle trade barriers, promote industrialisation and regional value chains, build capacity, streamline customs and transit systems and foster private sector engagement.
It will leverage the ECA’s expertise in trade policy and economic modelling alongside the AfCFTA secretariat’s mandate to operationalise the free trade agreement.
While Zimbabwe has embraced the AfCFTA by signing in March 2018 and ratifying in April 2019, the country faces the challenge of maximising its benefits.
Current efforts are mainly centered on identifying both the opportunities the AfCFTA presents and the constraints that need to be addressed.
This includes a focus on understanding how to best leverage national, regional and global markets and crucially, how to empower local businesses and communities to compete effectively within the continental marketplace.
ECA executive secretary, Claver Gatete, emphasised the transformative potential of the AfCFTA and the importance of institutional collaboration.
“The implementation of AfCFTA is a transformative opportunity for Africa, but its success depends on strong institutional partnerships,” said Gatete. “This MoU solidifies our commitment to working with the AfCFTA Secretariat to drive trade integration, enhance market access and support Africa’s economic development.”
AfCFTA secretary-general Wamkele Mene highlighted agreement’s potential to accelerate the AfCFTA’s operationalisation.
“This partnership will enable us to accelerate the operationalisation of the AfCFTA by leveraging ECA’s expertise in trade policy, economic modelling and capacity building,” Mene said.
“Together, we can create a more enabling environment for African businesses and governments to fully utilise AfCFTA’s benefits.”
The agreement comes as the AfCFTA aims to create a single African market encompassing 1,3 billion people and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$3,4 trillion.
The MoU signifies a crucial step towards realising this ambitious goal, focusing on concrete trade facilitation programmes, policy reforms, and capacity-building initiatives.
The partnership’s immediate focus will be on removing tariff and non-tariff barriers, promoting cross-border investment, and developing regional value chains to boost industrialisation.
Both institutions have committed to joint research and technical assistance to ensure the AfCFTA’s implementation is inclusive and beneficial for all member states.
-bsinessweekl
