Abuja treaty seeing mixed progress in free trade areas and harmonization of regimes

Abstract

Trade and regional integration experts assembled in Addis have been urged to make strong recommendations that will see to it that member States accelerate the establishment of Continental Free Trade Area and Customs Union as agreed in the Abuja Treaty. The recommendations, according to the Information and Communication Service of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), will be tabled at the 2-5 June 7th Session of the Committee on Regional Integration. Joseph Atta-Mensah, Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division at the ECA described the progress in phase three (2005-2014) of the Abuja Treaty as mixed. In the general public realm however, there is not much knowledge of the goods and services that African countries have to offer to each other and according to Atta-Mensah, many obstacles need to be addressed. They include improving infrastructure and the use of information and communication technologies; building skilled human capacity and simplifying trading procedures.