AfCFTA
Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Expatiates Affairs Badr Abdelatty affirmed on Wednesday keenness of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on putting into effect the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
The Egyptian Cabinet also approved an agreement between Egypt and Qatar that aims to eliminate double taxation on income taxes
The minister, meanwhile, said that Egypt plans to increase its exports to Africa from $5 billion annually to $15 billion within the upcoming four years.
During his visit to Egypt, the AFCFTA secretary-general is set to b hold a series of key meetings pursuant to the African Free Trade Agreement, which is brought into effect as of the beginning of 2021.
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will take part in the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020 to be held on Monday.
The president pointed out that the continent has come a long way from economic reform to promoting progress.
“Africa is a continent of opportunities, and it needs investments and trade more than aid."
“The development of infrastructure is inevitable. We must strive to achieve peoples’ aspirations to development and prosperity,” Sisi said.
Seven members states, which are Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Madagascar and Senegal, have submitted bids to host the secretariat.
Egypt's exports to the African continent are expected to reach $4.7 billion in 2018, compared to$3.6 billion in 2017.
AU was keen to launch an initiative for a unified aviation market to give momentum to the African aviation sector in order to boost tourism and trade exchange.
Every year on May 25, Africans around the world celebrate the annual occasion of “Africa Day,” which marks the establishment of the Organization of African Unity in 1963 (now known as the African Union).
Mahamat announced that the official launch of the AfCFTA will be at the Extraordinary Summit scheduled to take place in Niamey on 7 July 2019, marking an important and decisive step on the road to African integration.
AfCFTA will contribute to bolstering intra-African trade and achieving higher economic and industrial growth rates for the continent, it stressed.
Namira Negm said that the AfCFTA will enter into force in May after 22 states have signed and approved it.
Counter-terrorism, illegal migration, Palestinian-Israeli cause, Libya’s crisis, and Africa’s development are major priorities tackled by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in his speech at the 2019 Munich Security Conference (MSC 2019) on Saturday.
Only 44 out of 55 member states have signed AfCFTA deal, which aims to create a single, continental free-tariff market for goods and services.
With plans to support a full-scale trade agreement expected to boost intra-African trade by 52% by 2022, Egypt is leading the African Union next year.
The first agreement includes an investment program for backing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), into which the European Commission will pump about €75 million.
