The 57th session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development kicked off Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with a call for the immediate and full-scale implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. The two-day conference was held under the theme Advancing the Implementation of the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area: Proposing Transformative Strategic Actions. Speaking at the event, Claver Gatete, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said that advancing the full implementation of the AfCFTA will help achieve inclusive growth, resilience, and sustainable development across Africa. Gatete emphasized the need for African countries to focus on market integration, infrastructure development, and industrialization to boost intra-African trade, drive economic growth, and support the continent's structural transformation. It is certainly a welcome development that AfCFTA-participating countries will remove tariffs on 90 percent of the goods they produce, eliminate other non-tariff barriers, including regulatory bottlenecks to trade, and accelerate economic integration, Gatete said. Wamkele Mene, secretary general of the AfCFTA Secretariat, stressed the need for Africa to strengthen investment platforms, boost regional value chains, mobilize domestic resources, and enhance infrastructure and digital connectivity to unlock the full potential of the AfCFTA. The immediate implementation of the AfCFTA is crucial in the face of global geopolitical tensions, including the ongoing war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, which have heightened political uncertainty, restricted investment, and kept interest rates high, Mene said. Noting that 49 African states have ratified the AfCFTA agreement, Mene said the initiative will promote industrialization and strengthen value chains in sectors where African countries have historically been raw material suppliers. The annual conference brought together Africa's leading economic policymakers, central bank governors, development partners, and private sector representatives to discuss strategies for accelerating trade integration and driving industrialization across the continent.
