THE PERFECT LAUNCH PAD
THE PERFECT LAUNCH PAD FOR AFRICA The African Continental Free Trade Area could revolutionise African trade: Mpumalanga is the perfect launch pad for manufacturers and exporters. CREDIT: TRALAC The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been agreed on by almost all African nations and holds the potential to change the nature and size of trading on the continent in profound ways. Mpumalanga Province, as a strategically positioned region with a dynamic manufacturing sector and excellent logistics and infrastructure, provides the perfect launch pad for investors looking to take advantage opportunities that will be created by the AfCFTA agreement. The burgeoning African middle-class is a global trend that economists are carefully watching. As more sophisticated infrastructure is rolled out across Africa, having a base with good connections to ports and with good air, road and rail connectivity will be vital. Mpumalanga has all of that, and more. The operational phase of the AfCFTA was launched during the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union on the AfCFTA in Niamey, Niger, on 7 July 2019. Start of trading became officially legal under the AfCFTA Agreement as of 1 January 2021. On 7 October 2022, the AfCFTA Secretariat launched the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative in Accra to allow for commercially meaningful trade under the agreement to commence for eight participating countries: Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania and Tunisia, representing the five regions of Africa. This initiative was used to pilot the operational, institutional, legal and trade policy environment under the AfCFTA. As at August 2023, 47 of the 54 signatories (87%) had deposited their instruments of AfCFTA ratification (ordered by date): Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Niger, Chad, Eswatini, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Namibia, South Africa, Congo, Djibouti, Mauritania, Uganda, Senegal, Togo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, São Tomé & Príncipe, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Mauritius, Central African Republic, Angola, Lesotho, Tunisia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Malawi, Zambia, Algeria, Burundi, Seychelles, Tanzania, Cabo Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Morocco, Guinea-Bissau, Botswana, Comoros and Mozambique. In January 2023 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa officiated over the first official trade shipment under the agreement, out of the Port of Durban.
AfCFTA FAST FACTS Africa’s exports could increase by 0-billion and some experts predict that continental business and consumer spending could reach .7-trillion by 2030. 0 BILLION AfCFTA could boost regional income by 7% or 0-billion (Source: the World Bank) AfCFTA could lift 30 -million people out of poverty, according to the World Bank AfCFTA could boost 10% wages by up to * World Bank estimate ABOUT SADC South Africa is a member of one of Africa’s oldest regional organisations, the 16-member Southern African Development Community, (SADC). This enables duty-free trade within a growing market of more than 360-million people. All goods shipped under SADC Certificate of Origin receive duty-free status. Duty-free trade within a GROWING MARKET of more than 360million people
