Ramaphosa welcomes new continental free trade agreement

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Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Leon Sadiki, City Press)



Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the adoption by the African Union of an agreement of free trade on the continent as "a new beginning for the continent that will catapult African countries and companies to much higher levels of growth".

Ramaphosa returns to South Africa Wednesday night following the adoption of the agreement by the African Union at its 10th Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government.
The Agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) should provide new and meaningful trade and investment opportunities across the African continent.

"This is an opportunity that is going to yield great benefits for all countries on the continent as well as big business, small companies and micro-traders," Ramaphosa said following the conclusion of his working visit to Rwanda.
"Africa’s vulnerabilities and limited participation in global trade are indicative of its traditional reliance on the export of raw commodities and the import of value-added products," he said.

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