44 African countries seal historic free trade agreement as Nigeria, S’Africa a no-show

Leaders from 44 African countries on Wednesday sealed a historic agreement to create a $2.5 trillion continental free trade zone, with Nigeria and South Africa, the continent’s largest economies, missing.

The free trade zone is the largest in the world since the creation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.

Deliberations on the free trade zone began in 2015 and were originally projected to include 55 countries.

At the African Union summit in Kigali, Rwanda, Paul Kagame, host president, declared the meeting a success after initial negotiations were concluded.

President Muhammadu Buhari had been initially scheduled to attend the summit and sign the agreement after the Federal Executive Council gave its approval at its March 14 meeting.

Read also: Nigerians must understand that our economy is not a ‘normal’ one- Osinbajo

The trip was however cancelled on Sunday, March 18, with the presidency not providing a reason for the development.

On his part, Cyril Ramaphosa, South African president, said his country would join the agreement when the necessary legal processes had been concluded.

“President Ramaphosa has undertaken that South Africa will become a signatory to the agreement once the legal and other instruments associated with (the trade bloc) are processed and ratified by South African stakeholders and parliament,” he said.

 

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