Luanda - Angolan Minister of Industry and Commerce Victor Fernandes defended the continued union among member countries of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFTA), to strengthen trade.
Speaking to the press on Saturday, at the end of the 10th meeting of the Council of Ministers of the African Continental Free Trade Area, in Ghana, Victor Fernandes said that the type of negotiation required in intra-African trade should be evaluated, in order to assess the type of business to be done.
“There will be several companies from different countries, with several products, and also with services. We have all witnessed what this zone will be able to do in practice in the coming years, as soon as all countries are in a position to join this negotiation,” he said.
The Free Trade Area, according to the minister, will give shape to a need that African countries have in trade, as, for example, Angola's trade balance is very poor in relation to African countries.
"We trade more with other geographies than with each other. The simple fact that we Africans exchange more trade with non-African countries means that we have a great opportunity here to create economic development in our countries", he pointed out.
The tenth meeting of the Council of Ministers of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFTA) took place between the 7th and 8th of this month, in Accra, capital of the Republic of Ghana.
Angola is one of the signatory countries of the Agreement that creates the AFTA, signed in 2018, whose ratification process of the diploma was deposited with the African Union, on November 4, 2020.
The African Continental Free Trade Area is a free trade area covering most of Africa.
