African leaders have signed a agreement in Egypt to create a new free-trade zone stretching from Cairo to Cape Town.
The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) will include 26 countries – around half the continent’s total – uniting three existing trade blocs in eastern and southern Africa.
It is hoped that reducing trade barriers will bring prices down and boost economic activity between African countries that has long suffered for several reasons including poor infrastructure.
The Sudanese ambassador in Cairo, Abed Almahmoud Abed Alhalem, told euronews:
“We are facing internal and external obstacles. In terms of internal obstacles we are suffering from economic protectionism policies and bureaucracy within some countries, and also the lack of political will to launch a free trade zone. As well as that there are the conflicts between some African countries and the lack of security and stability in many countries.”
The three trade blocs which are coming together are the Southern Afri
