Angola believes that the newly created African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will boost the national economy by opening new markets for exports such as coffee and natural resources, Josefina Pitra Diakite, the chairwoman of the African country's parliamentary Committee of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Angolan Communities Abroad, told Sputnik on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd July, 2019) Angola believes that the newly created African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will boost the national economy by opening new markets for exports such as coffee and natural resources, Josefina Pitra Diakite, the chairwoman of the African country's parliamentary Committee of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Angolan Communities Abroad, told Sputnik on Wednesday.In March 2018, 44 African countries signed a treaty establishing the AfCFTA, which aims to increase regional trade by 60 percent by 2022. The African Union-brokered agreement is set to create a single market for goods and services on the continent, with free movement of businesspeople and investments. The deal is expected to enter into full force at the African Union's summit on Sunday.
"Definitely it [the AfCFTA] will benefit Angola because it will create a ground for us to trade, first of all, among ourselves [African countries]. And Angola is preparing itself to adhere [to the free trade agreement] but also to see what products we can put into market. We have coffee, we have diamonds, we have oil and gas. The products that we are selling for the world," Diakite said.
The lawmaker noted that Angola could also offer some agricultural products for exports but that these goods needed to be more competitive.
"And I think this is one area where Russia can also help us in terms of updating our products for export," she said.
Angola, the lawmaker stressed, pins special hopes for boosting exports as part of efforts to diversify the economy, produce more for national consumption and reduce imports.
All these steps are expected to let the country generate more foreign Currency "to address other challenges that government has internally," according to Diakite.
