YAOUNDE, April 16 -- Cameroon organized a workshop in collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in the capital on Tuesday to lay the groundwork for the implementation of Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Government officials said the two-day workshop gives Cameroon the opportunity to assess what the country will benefit from the agreement.
"We are talking about a continent of over 1 billion people and there are 25 million of us in Cameroon. The advantages of the free trade zone are so many for an economy like ours. It is necessary for us to work day and night to be part of the advantages and not disadvantages. We are confident that it will bring a lot of prosperity and stability to our economy," Cameroon's Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, told reporters.
The workshop, the first of its kind, brings together more than 100 stakeholders from the private sector, academia and civil society to evaluate Cameroon's readiness to ratify the agreement.
Twenty two African nations have already ratified the agreement, the minimum threshold expected to approve the deal among the 55 members of the African Union.
According to ECA, AfCFTA represents a potential market of 1.2 billion consumers today, and nearly 2.5 billion in 2050, and is a powerful lever to stimulate exports, industrialization, job creation and economic diversification of the African continent.