The Zimbabwean government will not sign the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement just yet.
Instead it will focus on stabilising its local industry which is struggling to produce enough quality goods to compete outside its borders.
This according to Minister of Industry and Commerce, Beatrice Mutetwa, who pointed out that the country had asked for a 15-year “time-out” from the AfCFTA.
“We have no industry to speak of and therefore could end up becoming a market for other countries without the means to export in return,” she said.
AfCFTA was initiated in 2012 by the African Union with the objective of establishing a single trading bloc which offers lowered trade barriers across the continent.
