The Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Mr Wamkele Mene, paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, today, at the Treasury Building in Port-Louis.

The AfCFTA Secretary General is currently in Mauritius for the Africa Partnership Conference organised by the Economic Development Board of Mauritius, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development.

In a statement, Mr Mene underlined that the meeting with the Prime Minister was fruitful and cordial adding that the main aim was to brief him on the implementation of the AfCFTA. He indicated that a total of 47 countries have ratified the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA in view to create the second largest trade market in the world.

Discussions, he stated, focused on the potential of the African Continent as an export market for Mauritius and how the latter can import goods and services from African countries. Considering the position of Africa in the state of the global economy and amidst geo-political and geo-economic environment, he observed that Mauritius and the AfCFTA are fully aligned in terms of the priorities and benefits of the new market of 1.3 billion people and 3.4 trillion USD.

The AfCFTA Secretary General also commended the Government for the rapid industrial development that Mauritius has seen over the past 20 years. The Mauritian economy, he unserscored, has remarkably transitioned from a sugar and textile-based sector to evolve into an export and service-oriented sector.