Zambia, 24 July 2025 (ECA) -The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Economic Report on Africa (ERA) under the theme ‘Advancing the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): Proposing Transformative Strategic Actions’ was launched at a public lecture at the University of Zambia on the 23rd of July 2025 with special focus on Southern Africa. The lecture was organised by the ECA Sub Regional Office for Southern Africa (ECA SROSA) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Zambia, Economics Department.
The objective of the lecture was to enhance awareness of the African Continental Free Trade Area AfCFTA’s strategic significance for economic transformation in Southern Africa, particularly among students; the launch of the 2025 ERA in Zambia; diagnosis of key AfCFTA implementation challenges, and facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue among academia, policymakers, and private sector representatives and align trade policies with developmental goals.
The AfCFTA, the world’s largest free trade area by membership, offers a transformative framework to boost intra-African trade, build productive capacities, and accelerate industrialization. Presenting the ECA’s Economic Report for Africa, Ms. Zodwa Mabuza, Chief of Sub-Regional Initiatives, underscored the urgency for Southern Africa to shift from commodity export dependency and leverage the AfCFTA to develop regional value chains. She emphasized that, “AfCFTA represents a strategic pathway to achieving food security, sustainable industrialization, and inclusive economic growth through value-added trade integration.” She further highlighted the importance of free movement of people as an enabler to AfCFTA implementation.
The lecture featured high-level presentations and discussions from the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry (MCTI), ECA SRO-SA, UNDP, the Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS), and the Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD). Contributions also came from the University of Zambia and student representatives, Young Economists Network and the University of Zambia Business and Economics Association (UNZABECA). The event provided a dynamic platform for cross-sector dialogue on aligning national policy frameworks with AfCFTA objectives and exploring strategic entry points for inclusive, trade-led development.
Mr. Phillip Soko, a Senior Economist from the MCTI underscored the importance of AfCFTA and the progress that Zambia has made in ensuring that women and the youth benefit from AfCFTA implementation. He assured participants that, “Zambia has put up several laws, regulations and policies to support implementation of the AfCFTA and this includes among others: 8th National Development Plan, National Trade Policy and National Strategy on elimination of Non-Tarif Barriers, the Customs.”
Notable from the public lecture is that many countries in Southern Africa, including Zambia are yet to start trading under AfCTA despite widespread ratification and development of AfCFTA National Implementation Strategies. The plenary session underscored the need to enhance national implementation capacities, avail adequate financing, harmonize standards across countries, develop trade-related infrastructure, and the involvement of all stakeholders to fast-track the implementation of the AfCFTA
The lecture ended with a question and answer session allowing participants to field questions to the panel of experts from UNDP, Policy Center Development, the Consumer Unity and Trust Society and University of Zambia Economics Department.
Issued by:
The Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa
UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
P.O. Box 30647, Lusaka, Zambia.
Media Contacts:
Ms. Lavender Degre,
Communication Officer,
Tel: +260 211 228502/5 Ext. 21307
DL: +260 211 376607
Email: lavender.degre@un.org