MEETING FOR MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRADE TAKING PLACE IN GABORONE, BOTSWANA

The Minister of Trade and Industry Hon. Mmusi Kgafela officially welcomed and opened the 11th meeting of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) this morning. Welcoming the delegates, Minister Kgafela expressed delight on behalf of the Government of Botswana and Batswana as this is the first time for Botswana to host the AfCTA meeting since embarking on the road towards establishing Africa’s own trade Agreement.

Hon Kgafela stated that the meeting takes place in the aftermath of various economic challenges that had tested AfCTA’s resilience, but the Council of Ministers for Trade stood firm in their commitment to the AfCFTA to a point where they had to embrace the new normal of holding meetings. He further stated that it was therefore befitting that the continental integration be at the heart of Africa’s transformation.

The general objectives of the AfCFTA are:

• Create a single market for goods, services, facilitated by movement of persons in order to deepen the economic integration of the African continent and in accordance with the Pan African Vision of “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa” enshrined in Agenda 2063.

• Create a liberalized market for goods and services through successive rounds of negotiations

• Contribute to the movement of capital and natural persons and facilitate investments building on the initiatives and developments in the State Parties and RECs

• Lay a foundation for the establishment of a Continental Customs Union at a later stage

• Promote and attain sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, gender equality, and structural transformation of State Parties.

• Enhance the competitiveness of the economies of State Parties within the continent and the global market.

• Promote Industrial development through diversification and regional value chain development, agricultural development, and food security; and

• Resolve challenges of multiple and overlapping memberships and expedite the regional and continental integration processes