AU mulls integrated market from January
News & Trends •
source63 mr. albert muchanga the trade commissioner of african union au has said the continent was set to initiate integrated market starting from january1 they signed the agreement during the 10th extraordinary summit of the au assembly of heads of state and government which was held on march 2018 in kigali rwanda1 a year after the signing the african union is becoming fervent that signatories with the remaining 10 african countries to ratify the agreement he pointed out1 only 12 of the 22 countries have so far ratified the agreement commissioner muchanga told ena and hastened to say but we are confident that we should be able to reach the 221 so we are confident that by february 2019 we are going to have the 22 ratifications and now we are also undertaking preparatory activities he pointed out1 negotiations in schedules of tariff concessions and trade in goods schedules of specific commitment in trade and establishment of the digit payment proceedings are still taking place he added1 when the agreement comes into force one month later we will be able to start trading under the new regime so that is very good progress and we are encouraged muchanga said1 no fewer than 50 african countries have signed the african continental free trade area afcfta1 the integrated market will attract large investment from the rest of the world create employment opportunities and minimize migration he elaborated1 asked about its significance to economic transformation commissioner muchanga said colonization had fragmented african economy and stressed1 and with small market it was very difficult to industrialize now we are creating a larger market space and with that now we are really to bring in large economy which is more viable to industrialize he noted1 to ensure intra-africa trade he emphasized that countries need to start harmonizing policies and regulations in line with the agreement1 when we develop the internal market i think the message that comes out clear is that africa is better forward instead of remaining with small and fragmented markets he pointed out1 according to studies some countries may lose revenues in the short-term as a result of liberalization however all countries will benefit in the long-term he articulated1 he urged the au member states to spearhead the negotiations instead of the commission1 africa is trying to create an integrated market he said and noted we need each and every african union member state to sign and ratify the agreement so that we have an integrated market1