The European Union is reaffirming its support for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, describing the single African market integration framework as an engine for growth.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, in an address to business leaders at the 2025 AU-EU Business forum in Luanda, Angola, noted that a successful implementation of the trade framework could unlock over 400 billion dollars to the continent while spurring growth along many supply chains.
“So that’s why our union has supported the African continental free trade area since the beginning. And at this summit, we’re boosting our support. The African Development Bank says that a true single market here could increase continental income by 450 billion in total. That means massive opportunities for Africa and for the world” She said.
The president of the EU commission also explained that when companies cannot sell or scale to neighboring countries, their growth stops at the border. Costs rise, innovation stalls. But when companies can expand to other regions, integration becomes an engine for growth.
Local businesses get bigger. Value chains create new jobs and ultimately industries become strength, strong enough to compete on the global stage. “We in Europe, we know this by experience because this is exactly what our European single market is all about” Ursula von der Leyen.
Being the largest free trade area in the world, encompassing 55 African Union countries and connecting 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of approximately US$3.4 trillion, the AfCFTA remains a flagship initiatives of AU’s Agenda 2063 – Africa’s development framework is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January 2012, approved the AfCFTA. The action plan for boosting intra-African trade and the decision to establish an African Continental Free Trade Area were adopted as important initiatives whose implementation would promote socio-economic growth development.
By enhancing Africa’s shared voice and policy space in international trade discussions, the AfCFTA seeks to accelerate intra-African trade and improve Africa’s trading position in the global market.
Chairperson of the African Union Commission Mahamoud Ali Youssouf who was also present at the business forum stated that Africa needed “more European companies, investors to come to the continent”. This he explained will be first and foremost in the best interest of those companies given the projections Africa will have some 2.5 billion inhabitants by 2050. “most of them I am the manpower is on the continent.
The resources are in the continent. The future of the world is in this continent” he added.
The European Unionhas given clear indications that its latest development financing global gateway initiative will dedicate 25% of the whole 300 billion euros budget to energy investment, especially in the global south.
Commenting on the Initiative, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf intimated that “the global gateway is really the future for that partnership between Africa and the European Union. We believe in that”.
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