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COVID-19 lockdown and AfCFTA: Matters Arising
By Tasie Theodore
Days to the formal flag-off of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AfCFTA, feelers from the Accra, Ghana operational hub of the landmark treaty are that the current storms in which the continent and world are enmeshed in, no thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, have created unsettling moments for the expected pace of events.
Among others, a media event that was earlier scheduled to take place a few days ago in Accra had to be put off in order that the matters arising from the turn of events, which has also seen a lockdown being imposed on Accra, can be addressed.
Sources in Accra however say that the mood concerning the take-off of the process remains upbeat among Ghanaian government officials who are providing supportive cover for the pioneer staff of the Secretariat, some of whom are still being expected to resume at the Secretariat as soon as the health authorities confirm that it is okay for them to travel down and take their places.
The African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA is part of a bouquet of initiatives in the umbrella Agenda 2063 package of the African Union and which are coordinately expected to establish the continent as a viable, prosperous and self-assured continental player, one century after the founding of the Organisation of Africa at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General, AfCFTA
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