Addis Ababa – The Executive Council of the African Union (AU) starts Wednesday (15) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, its 42nd Ordinary Session, aimed to prepare the 36th Summit of Heads of States and Government, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, the security on the continent and Agenda 2063 will be on the programme of the ministerial session.
Angolan delegation at the event will be headed by the minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António.
Top diplomats from the 55 countries of the continent will analyse the report of the trade ministers on the negotiations for the operation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the degree of preparation of the Member States, aiming at the start of commercial transactions.
The Angolan ambassador to Ethiopia, Francisco José da Cruz, told the Angolan press in Addis Ababa that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will create a broad African market and a new dynamic in integration regional.
According to him, AfCFTA is crucial for Angola, as a Member State of the AU, interested in expanding its market and exporting its products and services.
He spoke of active participation of the Ministers of Industry and Economy, who will participate in debates on reports by trade ministers.
This year’s 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Government of the AU will take place under the motto: “Accelerating the Implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)”.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement is expected to create the world’s largest free trade area as measured by the number of participating countries.
The pact links 1.3 million people in 55 countries with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 3.4 billion.
The World Bank Group predicts that the implementation of the AfCFTA could lift, in a first phase, 30 million people out of extreme poverty and another 68 million out of moderate poverty, by 2035.
Angola formalised, in 2020, its application to join the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), by accepting the terms of the agreement.
The technical compliance of its tariff offer has already been verified, which will allow Angolan exporting companies to pay low Customs Duties in the countries of destination of their products.
This accession requires that, gradually, over the next 12 years, Angola disarms more than 90 percent of its current structure of customs tariffs.
Countries such as Tanzania, Ghana, Mauritius, Rwanda, Kenya, Egypt and Cameroon have already seen their tariff offers approved and published in the Official Newspaper with all their specifications.
The AfCFTA is an African bloc that aims to boost trade between its members by reducing or eliminating customs barriers.
It also accelerate the industrialization of the continent. Of the 55 countries of the African Union, 38 ratified the agreement and 36 (including Angola) deposited their instruments of legislation.
These instruments regulate origin and destination rules, tariff concepts, local legislation and adaptation of customs procedures so that trade can begin.
Disease prevention in Africa
Ambassador Francisco José da Cruz, who is also the Permanent Representative of Angola to the African Union and to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said that the meeting will analyse the operation of the African centers for disease control and prevention in Africa.
At the moment, the process is in the phase of hiring the necessary staff for its effective operation, which includes hiring its general manager.
The meeting will also discuss the operation of the African Medicines Agency, that is, the creation of an institution that will regulate the pharmaceutical sector in the continent.
The African Union, which comprises 55 countries, is run by a commission and its chairmanship is rotated by the Member States for a period of one year.
The continental organisation meets annually in Ordinary Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where it has its headquarters.
The 36th Summit of Heads of States and Governments, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, in Addis Ababa, will mark the transfer of the current presidency of Senegal to the Union of Comoros. DC/AL/ADR
Source: Angola Press News Agency