The European Union ultimately envisages a future free trade area between Africa and the EU as it supports the continent to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
Roberto Celutti, Head of Trade and Economics at the Delegation of the European Union, South Africa, said the continent’s strength and prosperity were important to the EU, which already had partnership agreements with six Southern African Development Community countries.
“The EU cannot live without a strong and prosperous Africa and it must be a partnership of equals,” Celutti told delegates at the Transport Evolution Africa Forum & Expo in Durban on Tuesday.
He said the EU-AU partnership, concluded at the 6th EU Summit in Brussels in February this year, had been built on six key pillars, including a focus on sustainable growth and jobs, which would see investments to the region increased, as well as support for continental economic integration, growth and the creation of decent jobs. The EU would help the continent to maximise the benefits of the transition to green energy and accelerate the digital transition to ensure universal reliable internet access for all its citizens, while assisting with the development of health systems, deepening its support for peace, security and governance and adopting a balanced approach to migration and mobility.
He said AfCFTA was set to make Africa the biggest free trade market in the world with more than 1.2 billion people, but there was still work that needed to be done to realise the vision. “We strongly support this process, legally and technically. The EU is the biggest single market in world with the biggest customs union and free circulation of goods, services and people,” he said.
“Our final vision is to have a free trade area between the EU and Africa, once
AfCFTA is fully enforced and implemented. Our short-term vision is that we have free trade agreements in place between Europe and parts of Africa.”
He said the EU was the biggest contributor to the AU budget and the biggest trade and foreign direct investor partner on the continent, having committed to invest a total of €150bn in the coming years.
