CAPE TOWN, July 5 (Xinhua) -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead a delegation to the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) in Niamey, Niger with the aim of establishing an African free trade area, his office said on Friday.
The summit will mark the entry into force of the Agreement on the Establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and will formally launch the operational phase of the African Internal Market, Ramaphosa's spokesperson Khusela Diko said.
The AfCFTA presents South Africa with an opportunity for expansion to new markets in West and North Africa for the exports of value-added goods as well as services, said Diko.
The AfCFTA aims to make doing business on the continent easier and encourages African countries to trade among each other while addressing issues that stifle intra-African trade such as high transport costs, cumbersome customs, among others.
The summit, scheduled to kick off on Sunday, will also decide on the location and structure of the AfCFTA Secretariat.
At the open session of the Extraordinary Summit, Ramaphosa will, alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame, participate in the launch of the Tariff Concession Portal (TCP), Diko said.
The TCP is designed to allow countries to extend tariff preferences and give concessions to do so in a secured manner.
To this end, the aforementioned products will attract minimal or no tariff, thus making them more competitive, Diko said.
Since its adoption, the AfCFTA has been signed by 52 countries, with 24 ratifications, thus ensuring its entry into force after it surpassed the threshold of 22 ratifications by AU member states.
South Africa deposited its Instrument of Ratification of the Agreement Establishing the AfCFTA on February 10, 2019.
Currently, South Africa's primary export destinations on the continent are mainly within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), followed by east Africa.
