The commencement date for the implementation of the $3.4 trillion Africa continental trade pact has been postponed from July 1 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Phase I negotiation meetings to firm up rules and regulations had been scheduled to take place in South Africa this month with Phase II of the negotiations covering investment, competition and intellectual property, were scheduled to be completed by January 2021.
Secretary-General of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wamkele Mene, says all efforts have been shifted to saving lives and improving health systems on the continent, making it unrealistic for the economic bloc to move as scheduled.
“It is obviously not possible to commence trade as we had intended on July 1 under the current circumstances,” Mene said at a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) session on digital and trade policy in Africa this week.
Stephen Karingi, Director of Trade at the UN Economic Commission for Africa, reiterates that there will be a delay to the start date.
Emmanuel Bensah, a policy analyst with the Economic Community of the West African States and the African Union, says the July deadline is still feasible.
“The truth of the matter is that member states have yet to make a formal statement and arrive at a consensus pointing to a postponement,” he said.
Mr Bensah also serves as the Deputy executive director of the AfCFTA Policy Network for Ghana and the diaspora.
“AfCFTA is still on the minds of a lot of people, they want it to happen. It presents an opportunity for countries to do things on their own,” he says.
Another factor affecting implementation the agreement is loss of jobs, which the International Labour Organisation estimates at six million, the bulk of which will be in Africa.
UNCTAD has developed a policy brief outlining a 10-point action plan to ensure the movement of goods during and after the pandemic. The measures cover maritime transport, Customs operations, transit, transparency and legal issues, as well as technology to enhance paperless trade processes.
