国际英语资讯:News Analysis: Africas free trade zone key move toward continental economic, trade integra_时事

国际英语资讯:News Analysis: Africas free trade zone key move toward continental economic, trade integra

CAIRO, July 9 -- The launch of the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement is an important milestone on the path of integration and economic cooperation on the continent, Egyptian experts said on Tuesday.

The AfCFTA launch occurred on Sunday at the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government in Niamey, capital of Niger.

The African free trade accord was launched on March 21 last year in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, and came into force on May 30, after the deposit of the required minimum of 22 instruments of ratification by AU member states to the AU Commission.

Five more instruments of ratification have since been deposited, including Gabon and the Equatorial Guinea, which deposited theirs on Sunday, bringing the total number of countries that have deposited their AfCFTA ratification to the AU Commission to 27.

Ghana has been confirmed by the heads of state and government as the host of the secretariat of the AfCFTA, prevailing over six other countries that had also expressed interest in hosting it.

"The AfCFTA is an important step in the right direction on the path of integration and trade and economic cooperation in Africa," Hanan Fahmy, head of economic studies unit at the Cairo-based al-Hiwar Center for Political and Media Studies, told Xinhua.

She pointed out that the AfCFTA will contribute to building a united and prosperous Africa and open great prospects for trade between the signatory countries.