African leaders from across the continent gathered in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital from March 17 to 21 for the African Union’s 18th extraordinary sessions of the executive council despite snubs by Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni and Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari.
The agenda of the summit is the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), African Union on 21st March.
The establishment of the continental free trade area began in 2012 and while the negotiations commenced in 2015. The 2018 agreement set to be signed by the 55-member states of the AU, is aimed at uniting the 1.2 billion people in Africa with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $2 trillion US dollars.
The Free Trade Area is one of the lead projects of Agenda 2063 and aims to deepen the integration process, by allowing Africans to trade and move freely across the continent.
The draft agreement commits countries to removing tariffs on 90 percent of goods, with 10 percent of “sensitive items” to be phased in later.
The agreement will also liberalize services and aims to tackle non-tariff barriers, which have been a hindrance to trade between African countries, such as long delays at the border. Removing the barriers to trade is expected to not just grow trade within Africa, but also grow and better the kind of trade Africa needs.
The project is being driven forward along with other key related initiatives such as the Single African Air Transport Market and the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons and the African Passport.
While most of the African leaders have already confirmed their attendance, Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni snubbed the meeting raising questions as to whether there is a unanimous political goodwill.
This comes a day after Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari also opted out of the Kigali conference, saying he needed domestic consultation on the continental deal that would remove trade barriers and eventually allow free movement.
Reasons for Museveni’s withdrawal remains unclear but commentators say Mr. Museveni’s move indicates deteriorating relations between Kigali and Kampala.
There is no love lost between the two countries. Rwanda accuses Uganda of illegally detaining its citizens and helping groups fighting its government, while Kampala accuses some Rwandans of espionage.
On February 22, when Uganda hosted the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit on Infrastructure and Health Financing, Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame was not in attendance.
Nevertheless, AfCFTA will come into force after it has been ratified by either 15 or 22 countries. The number is yet to be agreed upon.