UN Agency Urges Viable Partnership To Realize African Free Trade Deal

Umer Jamshaid Published September 26, 2019 | 06:44 PM

The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA) on Wednesday stressed the need to forge viable partnership towards the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement

ADDID ABABA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Sep, 2019 ) :The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA) on Wednesday stressed the need to forge viable partnership towards the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.

The UN-ECA, which on Wednesday disclosed collaboration with Trademark East Africa (TMEA) that aimed to make the AfCFTA effectively works for women and youth, made the call in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Andrew Mold, Director of ECA's Eastern Africa Office, who commended the collaboration between ECA and Trademark East Africa, said that "such partnerships between ECA, TMEA, the African Union Commission, UNCTAD, and others are going to be fundamental in moving forward the regional integration agenda." The ECA, which has been supporting the process of the African free trade deal as a major advocator for the creation of a unified continental market, also underscored the need to create public awareness concerning the inclusion of women's priorities and needs through the creation of a single African market as stipulated under the AfCFTA.

Mold also emphasized the need to raise awareness of the AfCFTA among women's groups, the youth and private sector organizations, arguing that "by educating the general public about the AfCFTA, it will help debunk misperceptions." The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which also partners with the ECA on the realization of the continental free trade deal, also emphasized such partnerships towards the ambitious free trade pact's success.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi called on African governments not to drag their feet in the implementation of the AfCFTA.

"In the face of dramatic changes in the global economy, he appealed to African countries to abandon outdated forms of economic nationalism and embrace a regional perspective," an ECA statement quoted Kituyi as saying.

Mukhisa also encouraged African leaders and youth "to grasp the rapidly growing opportunity of electronic commerce worth 29 trillion U.S. Dollars globally, or risk quickly falling behind."