The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Amina Mohammed, has pledged the UN’s full support to the African Union (AU) as nations begin to operationalise the landmark African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
According to a statement issued by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), she made the pledge on Sunday in Niamey, Niger, at the 12th extraordinary session of the African Union on the AfCFTA.
Mohammed said the UN was ready to work in partnership with African countries as they move to implement the historic and game-changing AfCFTA.
“We are already working with 16 African governments to develop national strategies to maximise the opportunities created by this agreement and we will increase this number from next year.
“We are committed to working with African institutions to mobilise the resources that will be required for full implementation of the AfCFTA.
“In the first instance, the African Regional Integration Trust Fund will support countries to mobilise resources to finance regional integration”, she said.
The Deputy Secretary-General also said that the UN would work with the AU to coordinate and leverage complementary funding sources from the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Africa 50 Fund, to the AU’s Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), and China’s Belt and Road Initiative. (NAN)
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