Minister Davies Concludes AU Ministers of Trade Meeting in Niger

The Ministerial meeting, which was preceded by the 6th CFTA Negotiating Forum and the 3rd meeting of Senior Trade Officials, adopted the Modalities for Tariff Negotiations and Trade in Services

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 19, 2017/APO/ -- 

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies has arrived back in South Africa from the Republic of Niger where he participated in the 3rd African Union (AU) Ministers of Trade Meeting from 15-16 June 2017. The AU Ministers of Trade was officially opened by H.E. Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger and Champion of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA).

The Ministerial meeting, which was preceded by the 6th CFTA Negotiating Forum and the 3rd meeting of Senior Trade Officials, adopted the Modalities for Tariff Negotiations and Trade in Services.

Minister Davies says this will facilitate the exchange of tariff and services offers, as well as the finalisation of the CFTA Agreement. Minister Davies emphasised the importance of enhancing intra-Africa trade and investment, and regional economic integration through the CFTA. The CFTA negotiations were launched by the AU Heads of State and Government during their Assembly in June 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The President of the Republic of Niger has been mandated to report on the outcomes of the AU Ministers of Trade and progress made in the CFTA negotiations to the AU Summit next month.

The meeting also discussed the preparations for the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and agreed to have a dedicated informal session of African Ministers of Trade to engage and coordinate Africa’s position on the WTO.  

Ministers further welcomed the offer of the Republic of Togo to host the 16th session of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum in August this year and agreed to assess future US-Africa relations in line with the new USA administration’s Trade Policy released in March 2017. The 15th AGOA Forum was held in Washington last year under the theme “Maximizing US-Africa Trade and Investment: AGOA and Beyond”.

Earlier this week, during the US-Africa Business Summit held in Washington D.C, African Ministers requested the USA Government to provide clarity on its policy approach to US-Africa relations. This was the first engagement that was held with President Donald Trump’s administration. 

Distributed by APO on behalf of The Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa.