AfCFTA is Africa’s only path to sustainable development, ATPC Coordinator tells journalists

Abstract

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) should be made to work as it is the continent’s only path to sustainable development, Coordinator of the Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA) African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) David Luke said. Speaking today at a webinar on effective coverage of the AfCFTA, Mr. Luke said all societies only developed when their productive capacities, productivity and competitiveness were expanded, driven by trade, and Africa could not be an exception. The AfCFTA aims to create the world's largest free trade area with the potential that brings together more than 1.2 billion people with a GDP of over $2.5 trillion and usher in a new era of development. It has the potential to generate a range of benefits through economy of scale, trade creation, structural transformation, productive employment, and poverty reduction.