First Independent Mena Newspaper
The number of African countries offering e-visas has risen from 9 in 2016 to 26 in 2024, the latest addition of the Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) has revealed, with Benin, The Gambia, Rwanda and the Seychelles ranked the highest in visa openness, with Africans requiring no visas to enter these countries. The 2024 Africa […]
Intra-African trade, still beyond potential, is poised to grow two-fold in the upcoming five years, secretary general of the African Continental Free Trade Area, Wamkele Mene, said. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is the world’s largest free trade agreement by number of countries, territory, and population, encompassing 54 African Union member states. Covering […]
The inaugural Senegal-Mauritania Economic Forum is scheduled for September 30 to October 1, 2024, at the Radisson Blu in Dakar. The event will center on the theme, “Economic Integration Amidst Energy Transition: The Role of the Private Sectors in Senegal and Mauritania.” Amidst a global shift toward energy transition, the Senegal-Mauritania Economic Forum seeks to […]
Political leaders, business executives and other stakeholders from all around Africa have recently met at two high-level meetings in Nigeria’s Abuja and South Africa’s Cape Town, aiming to find ways to boost intra-Africa trade within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Finance ministers and central bank governors from 50 African countries […]
While East African Community (EAC) member states are increasingly trading with one another and with other African countries, latest statistical data have shown that many other nations on the continent, such as Cameroon, still have marginal trade with Africa despite AfCFTA implementation. According to the latest data by the EAC Secretariat, the seven EAC member […]
Easy movement of people in Africa, also facilitated by affordable airfares, without the hindrances of state boundaries, is one of the key prerequisites for the full implementation of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), according to stakeholders in the continent’s aviation industry. Air transport, which facilitates free movement of people across nations with liberalized inter-state […]
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has so far failed to boost Africa’s global trade participation that still stands at a mere 3%, according to a new report that assessed the progress in regional integration in the continent. African countries continue to conduct a greater volume of trade with countries beyond the continent rather […]
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement offers four significant opportunities to the Moroccan automotive sector, which is among the best developed on the continent, especially for its affordable inputs, finished exports, advantageous labor, and reduced customs tariffs, the 9th edition of the CFC Africa Insights report outlined. The report, titled “AfCFTA: unlocking the […]
Trade corridors between Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and between the latter and Kenya have been highlighted as the key links that will drive trade within the East African region by the year 2035. Increased infrastructure interconnectivity by the African states is widely seen as the key driver that will contribute to the […]
With Chinese lending to Africa shrinking, the continent must focus on increasing its internal trade, diversifying trade-able goods away from commodities, and developing and solidifying its relationships with other global economic partners, according to a senior official at the Asia Business Council. The continent has long had robust economic ties with China, but now faces […]