By Editor in Chief
on Wed Dec 04 2024
summary
Event Title: Business Seminar on AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area)
Date: Thursday, November 21, 2024, 17:30-19:00
Co-organized by JETRO, JICA, UNDP, UNIDO
Venue: Online
Main Participants
Opening Remarks: Ms. Mari Fujii, Director, Research Division, JETRO
Keynote Address:
Dr. Tsotetsi Makong, Chief Technical Advisor Capacity Building, Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy, AfCFTA Secretariat
Dr. Ify Ogo UNDP, Regional AfCFTA Programme Specialist
Kazuyo Kaneko, JICA Planning and Research Officer, AfCFTA Promotion/Trade Facilitation, JICA Ghana Office
Panel Speaker:
Dr. Tsotetsi Makong AfCFTA Secretariat
Dr. Ify Ogo UNDP, Regional AfCFTA Programme Specialist
Ms. Happiness Nyiti, Managing Director, AJA Limited, and Champion of the AFCFTA women and youth protocol
Toru Homma, JICA International Cooperation Specialist (Private Sector Development) / Senior Advisor to the Director General, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD)
Closing remarks: UNIDO Tokyo Office Director at foot
Contents
As the promotion of cooperation between Japan and Africa will increase in the future in preparation for the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) to be held in Yokohama in August 2025, JICA held an online seminar in collaboration with JETRO, UNDP, and UNIDO. The theme was the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), an initiative to eliminate tariffs among African countries for the purpose of unifying markets on the continent. While this agreement has been signed by 54 of the 55 African Union (AU) member states and will be operational from 2021, it is not yet well known in Japan. For this reason, the seminar invited the AfCFTA secretariat, support organizations, and local African companies that have utilized the AfCFTA framework to share the characteristics of the AfCFTA, the current status of initiatives, and future prospects.
Explanation from the AfCFTA Secretariat
At the seminar, the AfCFTA Secretariat explained that the AfCFTA benefits foreign investment, followed by introductions from UNDP and JICA on their respective cooperation details. In the panel discussion that followed, the speakers explained specific experiences of African companies using the AfCFTA framework, comparisons with intra-regional integration in ASEAN, and the potential of the AfCFTA.
The seminar was attended by about 250 people, who were able to share the possibilities of this new framework, including specific ways to use the AfCFTA.
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