10th Extraordinary Session of the African Union Assembly on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) opens in Kigali at the level of the Permanent Representatives’ Committee

The Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC) meeting in preparation for the 18th Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council and the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) kicked off on 17 March 2018 at the Kigali Convention Center (KCC), Republic of Rwanda.

“I am once again honoured to address the Permanent Representatives’ Committee, the linchpin of the African Union, on the occasion of preparations for the Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly convened for the purpose of executing the decision taken by our Heads of State and Government to lend a strong impetus to the implementation of one of our flagship projects, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” said H.E. Thomas Kwesi Quartey, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), during the opening ceremony of the Permanent Representative Committee (PRC) meeting on Saturday.

Hosted by the Republic of Rwanda, the event was held within the framework of the Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in the presence of the AU Commissioners, Representatives of the AU Organs and partner Organisations, the RECs, the UN Agencies and invited guests.

Speaking on behalf of the H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU Commission, Deputy Chairperson Quartey expressed his admiration for the city of Kigali, which he described as “a welcoming beautiful and resplendent city.... This time, however, it has enhanced its splendour in a bid to provide us with a suitable working environment, commensurate with the issues that bring us here”.

“This therefore is an opportunity for me to express the gratitude of the African Union Commission to H.E. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda and Chairperson of the African Union, for his commitment and determination to contribute, with his peers, to placing Africa on a path of greater self-assertion on the international stage. I would also like to thank the Government and the Rwandan people for their fraternal welcome,” reiterated H.E. Kwesi Quartey.

The AUC Deputy Chairperson stressed that the Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union on the AfCFTA is timely as it is a strong political symbolism that, “Africa is taking charge of itself and her voice should resonate, from a position of strength that is rooted in the effective implementation of projects of continental dimension that contribute to its development and especially to the consolidation of its integration and unity”.

He underlined that, as a key organ responsible for starting the decision-making process within the African Union, the PRC has the heavy duty of laying the groundwork, through the preliminary consideration of all working documents so as to provide the Executive Council with guidance on the way forward in the consideration of matters to be submitted to the Heads of State and Government.

“With the launch of the Continental Free Trade Area, one of the African integration flagship projects, alongside the Single Air Transport Market and the Free Movement of People and Goods, we are also challenged by the urgent need to develop an African Common Position on the Cotonou Agreement after it expires… Our continent is at a crossroads,” underscored Deputy Chairperson Quartey.

“What path will Africa choose? That of maintaining the status quo, which means making cosmetic changes relating to borderline adjustments which have no real impact on the lives of our populations, or that of effecting a paradigm shift which requires us to look far into the horizon for a truly integrated Africa, which is structurally transformed economically, guaranteeing the freedom of movement and settlement to all her daughters and all her sons, as well as offering, in the final analysis, fulfilling and promising living conditions for her youth, in a bid to reverse the migratory flows?”

“Things are changing, things have to change. In this dynamic, the PRC remains an essential player in this desired change,” noted Deputy Chairperson Quartey.

“Indeed, whether it is the preliminary work on the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area, the draft protocols finalized by the Specialized Technical Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs which you are called upon to consider, or the draft of the African Common Position, whose consideration is an item on your agenda, you have, during your respective sessions devoted to these issues, shown a convergence of views that largely transcends the hesitations, procrastination and concerns observed here and there,” the AUC Deputy Chairperson (DCP) said to the Ambassadors.

With regard to the Continental Free Trade Area, the DCP underlined that commended the efforts made by all the actors involved under the effective leadership of H.E. Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger, the designated Champion of the Continental Free Trade Area, before calling on the PRC members to conduct their deliberations in the spirit of Pan-Africanism which has always guided their practice in the discharge of their noble duties.

“I would like, if I may, to dwell on the following three main points:

• The African Common Position must be inspired by Agenda 2063, which is hinged on the key principles of African unity, integration and sustainable development, among others, and the reconciliation of the interests of the three ACP blocs (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific). These principles will obviously have to be supplemented by appropriate financing and governance mechanisms that preserve the continent's major interests.

• The African Common Position should be understood as a general framework that outlines the scope within which negotiations will take place. It is such a general framework that we must decide here in Kigali.

• The negotiators will subsequently be responsible for ironing out with the European side all the details, relating not only to achievements, and in particular the specific agreements that some of our Member States have concluded with the. European Union besides the Cotonou Convention, but also to the continuation of the objectives set out in Agenda 2063, in strict compliance with our basic principles, namely unity, integration, structural transformation of the African economies, sustainable development and shared prosperity.”

Speaking earlier, H.E. Hope Tumukunde Gasatura, Chairperson of the PRC and Ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda to Ethiopia, welcomed the participants to Kigali and reminded them that “the establishment of the AfCFTA is a critical political priority of our African Union leadership. It is also a flagship project of the African Union Agenda 2063”.

The PRC Chairperson stated that by establishing the AfCFTA through a commercially meaningful package of agreements, Africa is now posed to attract investments from both within Africa and the world at large. Through this Africa integration in terms of trade can commence. Jobs will be created, entrepreneurs’ will expand their business, and Africa Value chains will be developed and linked then to the global value chain.

Amb. Tumukunde highlighted that the legal text has gone through intense negotiation, and therefore, called on the PRC members to ensure that the AfCFTA agreements are ratify by their respective countries so that it enters into force without delay and begin implementation. She at the same time acknowledged the work done by the chief negotiators, and urged them to continue to negotiate in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation to enable us achieve the Africa we want.

The PRC Chairperson thanked the African Ministers of Trade “for their excellent work over the past two and a half years since the start of the Phase 1 negotiations of the AfCFTA which has made it possible to gather in Kigali to launch this important flagship project of AU’s Agenda 2063....  I would like to equally commend the work of the Specialized Technical Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs for the excellent work accomplished at their extraordinary session held here in Kigali last week for the legal cleaning of the texts”.

The PRC Chairperson recalled in her speech that at the founding of the Organization of African Unity, Kwame Nkrumah made a clarion call that ‘Africa Must Unite’.

“His vision and that of other founding fathers of our organization were very instrumental in the creation of regional economic communities like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1975, Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) in 1980 which later became the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern African States (PTA) in 1982 which later became the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); among several other regional economic communities on the Continent,” noted Amb. Tumukunde Gasatura.

In conclusion the PRC Chairperson underscored that “our people can no longer wait for economic fortunes to change, we are the change agents, and we have to create our own future because nobody will do it for us”.

The PRC members deliberated on the report of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Justice and Legal Affairs on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) legal instruments and also considered the draft African Common Position on the Post 2020 Cotonou Agreement, among others.

The Cotonou Agreement is a treaty between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States. It was signed in June 2000 in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, by 78 ACP countries and fifteen Member States of the European Union. It entered into force in 2003 and was subsequently revised in 2005 and 2010. The African Continental Free Trade Area is expected to bring together the 55 AU member countries.

The Eighteenth Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council will hold on the 19th of March 2018, followed by a Business Forum scheduled for the 20th of March 2018 and the Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU, on the 21st of March 2018.