The UK launches a program of up to £35 million to support the negotiations and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The AfCTFA is expected to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty, create jobs and provide new business opportunities for companies in Africa and the UK. It comes as Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, visits London to discuss how the UK can continue its work as a strategic partner to the trading bloc.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has announced a new UK program to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) trading bloc.
Through the AfCFTA Support Programme, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will provide up to £35 million to facilitate trade and support trade policy to the AfCFTA Secretariat and member states through TradeMark East Africa ( TMEA), Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and other regional partners.
The announcement of the program comes as the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, visits London to discuss how the UK can continue its work as a strategic partner of the AfCFTA.
As the world’s largest free trade area, the AfCFTA has the potential to drive Africa’s economic growth by driving industrialization, creating jobs and bringing prosperity across the continent.
For UK businesses, the trading bloc will remove barriers to market access by creating a single continental market, making it easier and more profitable for UK businesses to export goods and services to all 54 member states. of AfCFTA.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: As an independent free trade nation, the UK is a strong supporter of the AfCFTA, the world’s largest free trade area.
We look forward to seeing continued momentum in the pending negotiations and practical implementation of the agreement on the ground.
This new aid program shows that trade is a positive force and will lead to increased trade, investment and prosperity for both Africa and the UK.
Minister for Africa Vicky Ford said: Closer integration among African economies drives growth across the continent, creates opportunity and helps lift people out of poverty.
The UK is a committed partner in this mission. This UK funding will promote long-term partnerships between African countries and support a greener and more prosperous continent.
I am delighted to support the AfCFTA Secretariat and its member states in delivering freer and fairer trading systems in Africa.
Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat Wamkele Mene said: “We are pleased to receive this support from the UK Government as it brings us into a partnership to strengthen cooperation related to customs and trade facilitation and trade policy across the African continent.
In the last five years, we have seen the re-engineering of our Regional Economic Communities, to take into account the aspirations that are embedded in the AfCFTA instruments. We have also witnessed during this period the enthusiasm and energy of our private sector to rise to the occasion and begin to exploit the provisions of the Agreement.
Our ambition now is to see commercially significant trade in ‘Made in the AfCFTA’ products across our continent, to create jobs and economic opportunity for Africans, especially women and youth. We want to make trade easier for Africans, in particular for our African women and youth who trade across our borders.
This new AfCFTA support program is therefore timely to facilitate the implementation of the AfCFTA, by supporting national implementation committees and regional economic communities.
The program builds on the existing work of the Trade for Development unit of FCDO and DIT to strengthen partnerships and resilience in Africa.
Under the UK’s G7 presidency last year, the new British Investment International (BII) group committed to working with other G7 development finance institutions (DFIs) to invest at least $80 billion in the African private sector to 2027.
Support for projects in Africa from UK Export Finance is also at its highest point in decades, backing a range of infrastructure projects in countries from Côte d’Ivoire to Uganda, with more than £2.3bn of financial support a year. past.
The AfCFTA Support Program also complements the UK’s broader partnership with the African Union as a multilateral institution to promote global values.
Along with the Secretary of State for International Trade and Minister for Africa, Secretary General Mene will meet members of the UK business and investment community during his stay in London.
