APS : Sunday, 23 June 2019
ALGIERS- The enactment of the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAF) is a tremendous opportunity for national economic operators to conquer the African market,
Minister of Trade Said Djellab said Saturday in Algiers.
“This agreement entered into force on May 30, 2019 and it actually includes 24 countries out of 55 African countries,” said Djellab, Affirming that Algeria has ratified the agreement establishing ZLECAF in Kigali (Rwanda) in 2018.
To this end, he said, at a conference-debate entitled “The national export strategy and the African market: prospects for ZLECAF,” organized on the sidelines of the 52nd edition of the International Fair of Algiers (FIA-2019), that the entry into force of theagreement is a “key opportunity” for national economic operators to invest in the African market.
“By the next five years, 90% of the products on the African market will be affected by the tax benefits offered by ZLECAF,” added Djellab.
Noting that the results of the negotiations on rules of origin and market access for goods will be presented at the next Extraordinary Summit of African Heads of State and Government, to be held in Niamey (Niger) on 7 July 2019, the Minister stressed the need to increase the national integration rate in order to benefit from all ZLECAF’s advantages.
“We will need at least a 30 to 50% integration rate to be able to market Algerian products in ZLECAF. Hence, we must necessarily increase this rate,” said the minister.
Algeria is among the “best positioned” African countries to conquer the African market with its strategy of industrialization and its economic potential, he concluded.
