AUC seeks Tralac support as it implements single market
NDAMU SANDU
The African Union Commission (AUC) says the Trade Law Centre (Tralac) is a friend and is taping into the independent capacity building think-tank in the implementation of Africa’s single market.
The single market, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), is the biggest trade bloc in the world with a combined population of over 1.3bn and a total GDP of over US$3.4 trillion.
Albert Muchanga, AUC commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining told a Tralac annual conference last week that the organisation has played a pivotal role in regional and economic integration.
“We expect you to continue playing that role as we embark on the technical process of implementing the Agreement and Protocols of the African Continental Free Trade Area. Your services will still be required when we move the African Continental Free Trade Area towards an African Customs Union/Common Market,” Muchanga said.
The AfCFTA, which came into force in January 2021, is touted as Africa’s Marshall Plan with a potential to lift 100m Africans out of poverty and contribute US$450bn to Africa’s GDP by 2035, according to a report by the World Bank.
Such has been the determination by AU member states that they have accelerated the pace with the guided trade initiative beginning early this month with eight countries—Rwanda, Egypt, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritius and Tunisia—beginning trading early this month.
Tralac chairman George Lipimile said his organisation has continued to be a reliable and most used think tank in Africa, a disseminator of primary information, and provides technical assistance and capacity building for most governments in Africa.
The think-tank also monitors developments in respect of intra- Africa trade, economic integration, governance, and legal affairs on the continent and elsewhere.
Last week’s Tralac conference, the first physical meeting since 2019, was held under the theme, ‘Africa’s trade and governance agenda in a changing global order’. The conference coincided with Tralac’s 20th anniversary.
