The American Business Council, Nigeria, and the American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana are leading the course to create a single continental market in the African continent.

To this end, the two bodies are having an African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) Implementation Post Covid-19 webinar tomorrow, 29 May, 2020.

The main objective of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market for goods and services, and enable free movement of people and investments, thus paving the way for the establishment of the Customs Union in Africa.

The webinar will help drive conversations on the role of the AfCFTA in steering or stimulating domestic production in the wake of Covid-19 and ways in which the AfCFTA can engage partners domestically and internationally to provide technical and financial support to countries in resolving critical issues.

This will also help relevant stakeholders walk away with concrete ideas of what the AfCFTA’s vision is and how to help or leverage on the opportunities.

Currently the continent has a combined Gross Domestic Product of US$2.5 trillion, which can be grown by US $1 trillion within the next decade through increased production by African industries.

The AfCFTA will be fundamental for the achievement of this estimated growth, the two bodies said.

With the current pandemic causing economic difficulties for the African Continent, McKinsey estimates that the GDP of Africa could contract by as much as eight percentage points from the 3.9% growth forecast that was predicted for 2020.