South Africa's launch to commence preferential trade under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative and 13th AfCFTA Council of Ministers Meeting
What: South Africa's Launch to commence Preferential trade under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) and the 13th AfCFTA Council of Ministers.
Who: The events are being convened by the South African Government and the AfCFTA Secretariat.
When: The opening ceremony of the AfCFTA Council of Ministers (COM) Responsible for Trade Meeting will take place on 30 January 2024, South Africa’s launch of preferential trade ceremony and the closing ceremony of the COM will take place on 31 January 2024.
Where: South Africa's Launch to commence Preferential trade under the AfCFTA GTI will take place at the port of Durban and the Council of Ministers meeting will be held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban.
Background and objectives:
South Africa is a State Party to the AfCFTA Agreement since 10 February 2019. With a GDP of approximately $406 billion (World Bank, 2022), South Africa represents one of the largest economies on the continent. South Africa is poised to immensely impact the continent when trading under AfCFTA preferences especially with its well-established industries and experience in exports on the continent.
The objectives are to:
- Showcase that South Africa is trading under the AfCFTA
- African businesses can take advantage of it to trade under the liberalised preferences
- Demonstrate the processes through which the AfCFTA can be utilised
- Governments of AfCFTA Member States are ready to support the private sector in taking advantage of the AfCFTA
- The AfCFTA Secretariat is ready to support Member States and the private sector in the implementation of the Agreement.
The launch ceremony will be a historic step and an instrumental tool in generating meaningful trade on the African continent through the shipment of made-in South Africa products to AfCFTA State Parties participating in the GTI such as Ghana, Egypt, Rwanda and Tunisia. The main message being sent to Africa and the rest of the world through this event is to illustrate that companies can trade under the AfCFTA procedures to expand their markets within a legally binding framework.
Participants will include:
Secretary-General of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Mr Wamkele Mene, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition of South Africa, Mr Ebrahim Patel, other Government Officials, Ministers Responsible for Trade, the Diplomatic Corps, Heads of Businesses and the Media from the rest of the Continent.
Media accreditation
Journalists who intend to cover the event are kindly requested to submit their details through the attached form for State Security accreditation, to Mamosa Dikeledi via email: MDikeledi@thedtic.gov.za or WhatsApp: 066 301 9875, or Elydora Matubanzila, Elydora.Matubanzila@au-afcfta.org or WhatsApp: +233596994670, by 12:00 on Friday, 26 January 2024.
For further information, please contact:
Grace Khoza, Principal Communications Advisor | African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat| E-mail: Grace.Khoza@au-afcfta.org
Bongani Lukhele, Director: Media Relations, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) 079 5083 457 or WhatsApp 074 299 8512
Communication | Marketing | Advocacy Division, African Continental Free Trade AreaSecretariat |
E-mail: afcftacommunications@au-afcfta.org
Website: https://au-afcfta.org
