AU calls for an ‘African Economic Community’
By John Stephen Katende
8th Nov 2010
The African Union has reiterated its call to African nations to do everything within their power to quickly establish an ‘African Economic Community’ similar to the European one.
Speaking on the occasion of the opening of the 6th Ordinary Session of the Conference of African Ministers of Trade which took place in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Monday 1st November, Mr. Erastus Mwencha, the Deputy Chairperson of African Union Commission, said “…the time has come for us to speed up the establishment of the African Economic Community”.
At the function chaired by Rwanda’s Prime Minister Bernard Makuza in the presence of Rwanda’s Trade and Industry Minister and the Director of the World Trade Organization [WTO], Mr. Erastus Mwencha also pointed out that the proposal to establish the African Economic Community “…has been on the drawing board for almost two decades”.
He added that “…a Pan-African Common Market of 1billion people without internal borders will unleash the enormous economic growth and development potentials of Africa and strengthen the economic independence of the Continent”.
Sixteen African Ministers of Trade and 200 delegates representing the Member States of the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and the other international and regional organizations attended the Kigali Conference.
The Conference was convened to enable Ministers from the member states to reflect and exchange views as well as give political guidance and take decisions on a number of trade issues, some of which are of critical importance to the socio-economic development of Africa.
Top among the issues featuring on the Agenda of the Conference were matters relating to the need to deepen Africa’s market integration through the promotion of intra and inter regional trade.
The Conference also discussed some necessary steps to strengthen Africa’s trade and economic relations with some of its partners like the European Union, the US, and China. END. Please log into www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
