The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund gave the green light, Thursday, July 14, 2002 in Abidjan, to institutional support of 11.02 million dollars for the benefit of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAf ), to help enhance the efficiency of the implementation of the continental free trade market.
This grant from the African Development Fund, the concessional lending window of the African Development Bank Group, continues the same momentum that prevailed when it granted initial support of $5 million to the African Union, for the establishment of the AfCFTA Permanent Secretariat. It officially opened on August 17, 2020 in Accra, Ghana.
The AfCFTA Secretariat Institutional Support Project – Phase II will thus to consolidate the results of the first phase, which focused on the establishment of the AfCFTA Secretariat and the programs and tools required for the implementation of the AfCFTA, in addition to raising awareness among the actors concerned.
This second support, which still aims to encourage sustainable inter-African trade and encourage an increase in the share of African countries in intra-African trade, intends to intensify the effective implementation of the AfCFTA. This will include, both for the Secretariat and for the countries of the area – especially those in transition – harmonizing and integrating national and regional initiatives relating to trade policies, and advancing African trade integration. thanks to the effective application of the free trade area.
The project plans to undertake studies and initiatives to identify new trade and economic opportunities for women, assist in the development of the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade, and support the capacity building and targeted business skills acquisition for women.
The project will revolve around three components: institutional strengthening of the AfCFTA Secretariat; support to the private sector within the framework of the implementation of the ZLECAf; and support for regional and continental climate-resilient value chains to boost intra-African trade.
« The relationship between the AfCFTA Secretariat and the African Development Bank Group is critical to realizing greater continental trade and Africa’s economic transformation. The approval of this grant by our Board of Directors today will enable the Secretariat to further ensure that trade is conducted smoothly, predictably and freely on the continent.t,” says Abdu Mukhtar, Director of the Industrial Development and Trade Department at the African Development Bank.
The African continent has the lowest level of intraregional trade in the world, with a rate of less than 18% – compared to the rates of Latin America, Asia and Europe, respectively of 22%, 50% and 70%. However, with its 54 member states of the African Union and a combined GDP of approximately 3,000 billion dollars, the ZLECAf represents the second largest free trade area in the world and a potential market of 1.2 billion consumers. Also, it aims in particular to increase the level of continental trade from 18% to 25% in the space of a decade. It plans to boost intra-African trade by $35 billion a year, reduce imports by $10 billion annually while boosting agricultural and industrial exports by $45 billion (7%) and $21 billion. dollars (5%), respectively.