The project which aims at creating a single market for trade like the European Union (EU) will also mean free movement of goods and people. The deal which had 22 ratifications has been achieved said by the Egyptian foreign minister.
The latest two ratifications, Sierra Leone and the Suhrawi Republic, we're received by the African Union (AU) on April 2019. All but three (Benin, Eritrea and Nigeria) of Africa's 55 countries have signed up the deal.
The UN said if Nigeria joins the AFCFTA then Intra- African trade could grow by more than 50 per cent in the next five years.
According to statistics cited by the ministry, when the agreement enters into force it will affect more than 1.2 billion people, with a domestic product of about $3.4 trillion. It will cut duties on 90 per cent of goods on the continent. The deal could boost Intra- African trade by 52.3 per cent, the UN said.
AFCFTA has been a flagship project of the African Union's " Agenda 2063" development vision for five years. The AFCFTA proposal was approved in 2012 and the members started working on a draft in 2015.
In March 2018, the leaders of 44 African countries endorsed the agreement in Rwanda. AFCFTA participants are reportedly weighing the possibility of a common currency.
SOURCE: BBC News
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