NAIROBI, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday called on African governments to promote continental integration in order to boost prosperity and create enough jobs for the youth.
Kenyatta, who opened the Source 21 COMESA International Trade Fair and High Level Business Summit, said all efforts to increase integration and intra-Africa trade must at all times seek to generate decent and well-paying jobs for the hundreds of millions of African youth.
Kenyatta noted that in terms of consumer base, the COMESA market accounts for 520 million people, while the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) account for 630 million and 1.2 billion people respectively.
He called for more efforts to diversify and add value to raw materials produced in Africa.
Kenyatta noted that the continental integration will also be beneficial to Africa's small and medium-sized enterprises.
According to Kenyatta, as Africa embraces the movement toward a borderless territory under the recently launched AfCFTA, the business communities eagerly await the benefits of trade that will come not only with expanded markets but with the opportunities for rapid development and access to innovation and technology.
COMESA is a regional economic organization in Africa with 21 members.
