Cameroon has become the 33rd country to formally ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
This after Lesotho and Tunisia submitted their own instruments on November 27, leaving only 21 countries yet to ratify the treaty. They are Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
The AfCFTA comes into force on January1 after the original July 1 launch was postponed due to Covid.
The agreement entered into force on May 30, 2019 after the treaty was ratified by 22 countries - the minimum number required under the treaty - out of the 54 that agreed to be members of the bloc. Eritrea is the only country that has yet to make any commitment to the continental body.