7th Africa CEO forum opens in Rwanda

By Munira Abdelmenan Awel

ANKARA (AA) - The 7th Africa CEO Forum opened on Monday in Rwanda, local media reported.

According to The East African news website, the forum is being held at a time when the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is one ratification away to becoming functional.

At the opening ceremony, Amir Ben Yahmed, president of the Africa CEO Forum, said: “We are here to ensure that the CFTA becomes a reality.”

The AfCFTA will make Africa the world’s largest free trade area created in terms of the number of participating countries since the World Trade Organization was formed in 1995. It will create a market of $3 trillion and a market of 1.2 billion people with no tariff and border restrictions.

Twenty-two countries are required to ratify the deal. Ethiopia last week became the 21st country to take the agreement into Parliament.

"It’s the only way to maximize benefits such as job creation for the continent. Political will must come first as it allows things that must work to work," said Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

The Africa CEO Forum is the largest annual meeting of the African private sector and brings together over 1,500 business leaders, investors, policymakers and journalists from different countries around the world.

The forum opened with the attendance of Kagame, Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde, Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and Togo President Faure Gnassingbe and other heads of governments.

Intra-African trade accounts for around 16 percent of the continent’s total, according to statistics from the African Union, which could increase by half with the AfCFTA.