The Board of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved an institutional support grant of $4.8 million to be disbursed to the African Union (AU) in order to accelerate the momentum of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), which received its 22nd ratification on 2 April, 2019 bringing the agreement into force.

In its press release, the AfDB stated that the AfCFTA is a major force for continental integration. According to the AfDB, the AfCFTA will expand intra-African trade by up to $35 billion per year and usher in freedom of movement for goods, services and people across the continent’s internal borders, with a regime of reduced tariffs and non-tariff barriers drastically reducing the cost of doing business on the continent. The act will also boost agriculture and industrial exports by up to $66 billion per year.

In the press release, it is stated that the AfDB’s grant to AfCFTA is targeted at laying the institutional foundations for the AfCFTA implementation secretariat as well as the rollout of the implementation programmes.

Read More: https://www.bnafrica.com/index.php/2019/04/11/afdb-board-approves-4-8m-grant-to-accelerate-african-free-trade/