The Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) signed in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21st March 2018 is a key milestone in Africa’s integration agenda. Almost all (seven out of eight) of the IGAD Partner States signed the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA. Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda have ratified the Agreement while Somalia has committed to ratifying the Agreement in the coming months. Additionally, the Partner States are developing national AfCFTA implementation strategies at different stages.
Harnessing the full benefits of the AfCFTA starts with its domestication, ratification, and full implementation by member States. For African countries, this entails developing national and regional AfCFTA implementation strategies tailored to existing national, regional and continental policy frameworks.
In this context, IGAD has developed its Implementation Strategy to identify opportunities, gaps, and steps required to take full advantage of continental and global markets resulting from the AfCFTA-induced opportunities. The IGAD AfCFTA strategy will recommend concrete actions that Member States should undertake to best leverage the opportunities arising under the AfCFTA and address related challenges. In line with this, IGAD, in partnership with ECA and the financial support from the European Union (EU), is organising a validation workshop for the IGAD AfCFTA strategy on 8-9 December 2022 in Nairobi Kenya to review, discuss and validate the strategy.
What: Validation of the IGAD AfCFTA Implementation Strategy
Who: IGAD in partnership with ECA and EU
When: 8-9 December 2022
Where: Radisson Blu Hotel Upper Hill Nairobi
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Senait Afework
ATPC/Regional Integration and Trade Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Email: afeworks@un.org
Twitter: @atpc2