Why we did not sign Africa free trade agreement — Zambia

 
Zambia did not sign the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as it was still conducting internal negotiations on some protocols in the agreement, a Zambian official said.
On Wednesday, 44 African countries signed the agreement to launch the AfCFTA during an extraordinary summit of the African Union (AU) in Kigali, Rwanda.
Zambia’s foreign minister, Joseph Malanji, said Zambia only signed the African Free Trade Area Declaration and not the agreement.
He said in a statement that Zambia had negotiated the protocol on goods and services and the dispute settlement
mechanism, while the remaining protocols, including on trade competition, investment and the intellectual property, were yet to be negotiated.
The minister, however, said the signing of the declaration shows that Zambia stands with all other African countries in the quest to improve intra-Africa trade.
Meanwhile, Zambia’s commerce, trade and industry minister Christopher Yaluma said in the same statement that
Zambia will not sign the protocol on the free movement of people as the country was not ready for it.
He said the government would only engage in treaties that had a positive bearing on Zambian people especially
the youth and women.
The decision to form the AfCFTA was adopted in January 2012 during the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU while negotiations were launched by the AU in 2015.
The AfCFTA was aimed at creating a single continental market for goods and services with free movement of
businesses and investments.
According to the AU, this will pave the way for the establishment of the Continental Customs Union and the
African Customs Union.
The AfCFTA could create an Africa market of over 1.2 billion people with a GDP of 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars.
The agreement, after being signed, will be submitted for ratification by state parties before it can enter
into force.
NAN reports that 44 African countries signed the AfCFTA agreement without its biggest economy, Nigeria, and nine others.
Although a minimum of 22 countries were required to sign to get the project started, 44 nations okayed the pact to establish the free trade bloc within 18 months.
The other countries that did not sign are Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Burundi, Eritrea, Benin, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau.
The African Union (AU) started talks in 2015 to establish a 55-nation bloc that would be the biggest in the world, in a bid to increase intra-regional trade, which is currently 15 per cent of the continent’s total commerce.
(Xinhua/NAN)
  •  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Southern Africa:Mbekism,Zumaism and crossroad (FIRST PUBLISHED 2010)

 Viewpoint »  Southern Africa: Mbekism, Zumaism and crossroad  FEB. 24, 2018  By Chidi .G. Osuagwu THE ongoing socio-economic crisis of Southern Africa is the crisis of truth approached sideways, like the crab would. Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma are no better alternatives to each other in the objective solution of the problems of South Africa and Southern Africa. Neither of these men, from their known roles as liberation fighters, is a coward, but they are confused; overwhelmed by problems too complex for their comprehension. Between two of them stands truth and solution to the centuries-old problem of apartheid, which is the real issue in Southern Africa. I was in South Africa in March 2006. The University of South Africa, UNISA, had invited me to deliver a series of lectures (Tshwane Renascent Africa Lectures) around the theme of “African Cosmology: Cybercosmos”, which I had reconstructed, as a modern scientific system by the informed interpreta...
Read more

FULL LIST OF NIGERIANS CHARGED BY FBI FOR MASSIVE FRAUD IN AMERICA

Image
Full List of 77 Nigerians charged by FBI for massive fraud in America August 23, 2019 Premium Times   A 252-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday charged 77 Nigerian nationals with participating in a massive conspiracy to steal millions of dollars through a variety of fraud schemes and launder the funds through a Los Angeles-based money laundering network as uncovered by the FBI. The indictment was unsealed after law enforcement authorities, led by the FBI , Thursday morning arrested 14 defendants across the United States, with 11 of those arrests taking place in the Los Angeles region. Two defendants were already in federal custody on other charges, and one was arrested earlier this week. The remaining defendants are believed to be abroad, with most of them located in Nigeria. The indictment alleges that the defendants and others used various online fraud schemes – including business email compromise (BEC) frauds, romance scams, and schemes targeti...
Read more

GOV OKOROCHA ADCOCATES FOR LAWS FOR THE PRIVILEGED

Image
GOVERNMENT OF IMO STATE PRESS RELEASE SUBJECT: GOVERNOR ROCHAS OKOROCHA CALLS ON THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO MAKE LAWS THAT WOULD BENEFIT THE LESS PRIVILEGED CHILDREN IN THE SOCIETY The governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has called on the National Assembly to make laws that would ensure the protection and benefit of the less privileged children in the society. The governor made the call when about one hundred members of the House of Representatives led by Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who is the majority leader of the House and also an Aspirant to the Office of the Speaker, met with the students of Rochas Foundation College of Africa on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at the premises of the Institution, stating that such law would ensure that the circumstances of birth do not prevent any child from achieving the goal for which God created him or her. He stated “I call on the National Assembly to promulgate a law to support less privileged children all over Nigeria. ...
Read more