ADDIS ABABA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- East African business community leaders on Friday called for concerted efforts to fast-track the realization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
East African business leaders, who have been convening on the potential benefits of the AfCFTA for the private sector under the umbrella of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), on Friday urged for the realization of the continental free trade pact, the ECA said in a statement on Friday.
The ECA, which brought together some 40 key East African business leaders on Thursday in collaboration with the East African Business Council, in meeting outcome statement issued Friday revealed that the region's business community representatives' common position, reiterating their support to the ambitious free trade pact.
"The AfCFTA is not simply a free trade agreement. It's about establishing a unified continental market with 1.2 billion potential customers and where the private sector is a major engine to make it happen," private sector leaders said after the meeting.
The ECA, which stressed "large potential gains" from the free trade pact, also projected an estimated a 1 billion U.S. dollars increase in the exports of eastern African countries, as well as close to 1.9 million new job opportunities in the region.
Once operational, the AfCFTA is projected to boost the level of intra-Africa trade by about 52 percent by the year 2020, according to figures from the ECA.
The AfCFTA, which was launched in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, in March 2018, mainly aspires to create a tariff-free continent that can grow local businesses, boost intra-African trade, spur industrialization and create more jobs.
Noting that African economies have a collective GDP of 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars that makes the continent the 8th largest economy in the world, the East African business actors also stressed that the AfCFTA would "make the continent much more attractive to investment, both from within and from outside the continent."
"This should encourage business people to take advantage of AfCFTA and make the investments necessary to sustain economic growth and create employment," ECA's statement quoted Andrew Mold, Director of ECA's Eastern Africa regional office, as saying.
East African Business Council Chairman, Nick Nesbitt, also emphasized the importance of the continent having a clear vision to put an end to the fragmentation of the internal market.
"We really applaud everyone involved in creating the AfCFTA, because their vision is pan-Africanism," Nesbitt said, adding it is something our founding founders aspired to.
The AfCFTA, which was so far ratified by 22 African countries, has so far witnessed 19 African Union (AU) members depositing the instruments of ratification to the 55-member pan African bloc, in which three additional deposits of ratifications are presently expected to officially commence the free trade pact.
Deposits of ratification are currently expected from Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Gambia following the ratification of the AfCFTA by the three countries' parliaments recently, the AU revealed recently.
The AfCFTA will enter into effect one month after receipt of the 22nd instrument of ratification, which is the minimum threshold needed to approve the agreement into force, according to the AU.
