It is historic that twenty-seven African countries have signed a protocol allowing for the free movement of people and the right to live and own land anywhere in Africa. It means that the citizens of these nations can live across Africa and enjoy the same status as if they were back home, opening doors for employment.
The countries were part of the forty-four that signed the protocol to the treaty establishing the African economic community dubbed African Continental Free Trade Area, ACFTA, in Kigali, Rwanda, last month.
Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, who is also the African Union Chairman, described “the promise of free trade and free movement as prosperity for all Africans because we are prioritising the production of value-added goods and services that are made in Africa.”
However, Nigeria, South Africa, Burundi, Guinea Bissau, Eritrea and four other countries declined to sign the protocol, which targets the creation of the world’s largest single market of over one billion people and GDP of $3.4 trillion.
For businesses, it commits governments to remove tariffs on 90 percent of goods produced within the continent and phase out the rest over time.
Seventeen countries that attended the Rwandan event said they would ratify the ACFTA partially without allowing for free trade but not movement and residency of people from other countries.
Countries now have to ratify the ACFTA agreement at national level within six months, that is, by September this year. Those that are yet to sign the deal can also do so within the same period.
