President William Ruto has advocated for the advancement of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Speaking during the African Union mid-year coordination meeting in Nairobi, Ruto said that the continent has made major strides in implementing the initiative, which he says holds the future for Africa.

“The most compelling signal that African integration is unstoppable and that it will open doors for unprecedented socioeconomic transformation is the progress we have made in implementing the Africa Continental Free Trade Area. We must all be proud of this magnificent project, a historic achievement by and for ourselves, whose positive effects will reverberate throughout the world for a long time to come,” Ruto said.

AfCFTA is one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063 for the African Union. The initiative is aimed at boosting intra-Africa trade, particularly trade in value-added production and trade across all sectors of Africa’s economy.

“We are a busy continent that is going places; the young, clean, green continent of the future, and we are determined to lead our march into this future as a united, empowered contributor of sustainable solutions to global problems. We are reasoning together, generating effective solutions, implementing them, facing our challenges head-on, making progress, and getting results,” Ruto added.

Africa Continental Free Trade Area overview

If implemented fully, AfCFTA would become the world’s largest free trade area bringing together the 55 countries of AU and eight Regional Economic Communities.

The AfCFTA entered into force on May 30, 2019, after 24 Member States deposited their Instruments of Ratification following a series of continuous continental engagements spanning since 2012.

It was launched at the 12th Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Niamey – Niger, in July 2019.

The commencement of trading under the AfCFTA was on January 1, 2021.