Story by Stanley James, Business Editor
ZIMBABWE will host the next Council of Ministers Responsible for Trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) following a decision adopted at the 18th Council of Ministers Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.
The decision marks another milestone in Zimbabwe’s growing role in advancing Africa’s trade and economic integration agenda.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Professor Amon Murwira who attended the meeting, said AfCFTA remains the continent’s foremost instrument for driving economic integration through trade.
Addressing delegates after the meeting, Professor Murwira said ministers deliberated on tariff harmonisation, agricultural trade, trade facilitation and budgetary matters.
“Trade is the lifeblood of foreign relations and continental integration. One of the key outcomes of today’s meeting is that Zimbabwe will host the next Council of Ministers Responsible for Trade. We are honoured by this decision. We also agreed to elevate trade in agricultural products to the Heads of State and Government because agriculture remains the backbone of our continent,” he said.
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said the adoption of the remaining annexes on Intellectual Property Rights by African Heads of State marked the completion of the negotiations phase.
“The challenge we now face is to turn that legal architecture into commercially meaningful outcomes for our private sector.”
Outgoing Council Chairperson and Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Dr Mohamed Farid Saleh said Africa had entered a new phase of regional economic integration, with implementation now the key priority.
“The success of the agreement can no longer be measured solely by the number of protocols adopted. It must be measured by our collective ability to translate these achievements into tangible economic realities.”
The Council of Ministers is expected to adopt a series of decisions aimed at accelerating the implementation of the AfCFTA and deepening economic integration across the continent.
