Africa-Press – Angola. The Executive Council of the African Union (AU) starts, on Wednesday (15), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, its 42nd Ordinary Session, to prepare the 36th Summit of Heads of States and Organizing Government, taking place Saturday and Sunday.
The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), security on the continent and Agenda 2063 will be on the agenda of the ministerial session, in which the Angolan delegation will be headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António.
The heads of diplomacy of the 55 countries of the continent will analyze the report of the trade ministers on the negotiations for the operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the degree of preparation of the Member States, aiming at the start of commercial transactions.
In this regard, the Angolan ambassador to Ethiopia, Francisco José da Cruz, speaking to the Angolan press in Addis Ababa, said that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will create a broad African market and a new dynamic in integration regional.
He maintained that the AfCFTA is important for Angola as a Member State of the AU interested in expanding its market and exporting its products and services, which is why there is an active participation of the Ministers of Industry and Economy, who will participate in debates on reports by trade ministers.
The 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Government of the AU is being held this year under the motto: “Accelerating the Implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA)”.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement is expected to create the world’s largest free trade area as measured by the number of participating countries.
The pact links 1.3 million people in 55 countries with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 3.4 billion.
Forecasts by the World Bank Group point out that the implementation of the AfCFTA could lift, in a first phase, 30 million people out of extreme poverty and another 68 million out of moderate poverty, by 2035.
Angola formalized, in 2020, its application to join the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), by accepting the terms of the agreement.
The technical compliance of its tariff offer has already been verified, which will allow Angolan exporting companies to pay low Customs Duties in the countries of destination of their products.
This accession requires that, gradually, over the next 12 years, Angola disarms more than 90 percent of its current structure of customs tariffs.
Countries such as Tanzania, Ghana, Mauritius, Rwanda, Kenya, Egypt and Cameroon have already seen their tariff offers approved and published in the Diário da República with all their specifications.
The AfCFTA is an African bloc that aims to boost trade between its members by reducing or eliminating customs barriers, in addition to accelerating the continent’s industrialization.
Of the 55 countries of the African Union, 38 ratified the agreement and 36 (with Angola included) deposited their instruments of legislation.
These instruments regulate origin and destination rules, tariff concepts, local legislation and adaptation of customs procedures so that trade can begin.
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Ambassador Francisco José da Cruz, who is also the Permanent Representative of Angola to the African Union and to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, informed that the meeting will analyze the operationalization of the African centers for disease control and prevention in Africa.
At the moment, the process is in the phase of hiring the necessary staff for its effective operation, which includes hiring its general manager.
The meeting will also discuss the operationalization of the African Medicines Agency, that is, the creation of an institution that will regulate the pharmaceutical sector in the continent.
The African Union, which comprises 55 countries, is run by a commission and its presidency is held in turn by the Member States for a period of one year.
The continental organization meets annually in Ordinary Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where it has its headquarters.
The 36th Summit of Heads of States and Governments, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, in Addis Ababa, will mark the transfer of the current presidency of Senegal to the Union of Comoros.
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