Despite the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, challenges persist, including inadequate infrastructure, institutional fragmentation, limited understanding of the agreement’s procedures, and a lack of coordination and regional integration.
Tunisian economic operators, gathered on Friday at the Export Promotion Centre (CEPEX) for a roundtable discussion with Minister of Trade and Export Development Samir Abid and AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Keabetswe Mene.
They called for strengthening national and regional infrastructure, modernizing Tunisia’s foreign exchange regulations, better harmonization of rules, improving the business climate in member states, mobilizing the financing needed to support African businesses, and sharing best practices to make the AfCFTA a driver of growth and regional integration.
Speaking at the event, Minister Samir Abid acknowledged that “the implementation of this Agreement is not without challenges. The diversity of African economic structures, varying levels of development, logistical and infrastructure constraints, transport and connectivity costs, as well as certain regulatory and non-tariff barriers, remain factors that continue to slow continental trade integration.”
“Despite these challenges, the AfCFTA embodies the ambition to build an integrated, prosperous, inclusive, and sovereign Africa, founded on the potential of its people, particularly its youth and women,” he added.
“Despite a sometimes difficult regional and international environment, Tunisia remains fully committed to African economic integration. Tunisia views Africa as its natural strategic depth. Our objective is to promote balanced and mutually beneficial partnerships focused on investment, co-production, and shared development within the framework of the AfCFTA,” the minister said.
According to Abid, “the Tunisian private sector is now fully involved in implementing the national strategy for African integration. A permanent public-private dialogue mechanism has also been established to ensure better ownership of the Agreement by economic operators and to enable the private sector to speak with one voice on issues related to African trade integration.”
“The success of the AfCFTA will depend above all on the effective involvement of African businesses. This Agreement belongs to them. It was designed for them and with them,” he concluded.
For his part, AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene urged the African private sector, which he described as the “main partner” in implementing the AfCFTA, to participate actively in putting the agreement into practice and to help guide authorities in overcoming existing challenges.
He also called for making full use of the opportunities offered by digitalization to further simplify procedures, improve connectivity, and support integration efforts.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Mohamed Ali Nafti, and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Mohamed Ben Ayed, who joined the roundtable, emphasized the strong momentum and opportunities created by the AfCFTA despite the difficulties surrounding its implementation.
Nafti said discussions with the AfCFTA delegation visiting Tunisia focused primarily on the importance of establishing a bilateral and multilateral roadmap to address procedural and operational challenges, the need to move forward with the creation of a regional corridor and the strengthening of interactions with other economic blocs such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
He further stressed Tunisia’s commitment to contributing effectively to the success of the regional integration process, with the goal of building a more resilient, prosperous, and connected Africa.
