Ensuring Women Benefit From Africa's Free Trade Agreement
As the launch of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) on January 1, 2021 nears, many countries on the continent are confident and optimistic of the opportunities that regional trading partnerships will bring. However, many who are reliant on cross-border trade for their livelihoods are women, according to Malabo Montpellier Panel member Ishmael Sunga, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU). He added that women have been disproportionately affected by restrictions, border closures and curfews enforced due to Covid-19, alongside gender-based discrimination and violence." The AfCFTA will be one of the largest free trade areas in the world since the establishment of the World Trade Organization, covering a market of more than 1.2 billion people and up to U.S.$3 trillion in combined GDP, the Malabo Montpellier Panel said.
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Africa:
AfCFTA, the Largest Free Trade Area In World to Launch in January 2021
Malabo Montpellier Panel, 21 December 2020
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), due to launch in January 2021, is likely to be a watershed for African regional and international agri-food trade, a new… Read more »
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Ethiopia:
Why All Are Eagerly Waiting for AfCFTA, World's Largest Free Trade Area
Ethiopian Herald, 23 December 2020
Signed by 55 African countries and ratified by 34 of them by their parliaments', the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to become operational as of 1 January… Read more »
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Africa:
Continued Research Key As Africa Moves Towards Free Trade
UNECA, 20 October 2020
Thorough research and continuous interaction between researchers and policy makers is crucial to ensure the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) delivers for the continent,… Read more »
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Africa:
SA Beats Nigeria to Top Job in African Continental Free Trade Area
Daily Maverick, 11 February 2020
SA officials said Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had conducted a political battle over what should have been a purely technocratic decision. Read more »
InFocus
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AllAfrica's news partners report on the landmark African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, which came into effect at the African Union summit in Niamey. The development is ... Read more »
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The AfCFTA, widely touted as an economic saviour, was signed and ratified in record time and was due to come into effect on July 1, 2020. The kickoff will probably be postponed ... Read more »
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Ghana's capital, Accra, is the venue for the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which the African Development Bank gave the AU a U.S.$5 million grant ... Read more »
(file photo).
InFocus
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Abebe Selassie, Director of African Department at the IMF, has said that the organisation understood that the Nigerian government closed the borders due to smuggling and other ... Read more »
