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Business Reporter
AFRICAN trade experts have called for swift implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a strategy to lifting the continent out of an economic downturn caused by Covid-19.

The pandemic had, for the first time in 25 years, caused a contraction of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of between two to five percent in sub-Saharan Africa, said Mr Wamkele Mene, the AfCFTA secretary general while speaking at a recent trade forum in Dakar, Senegal.

“This decline will manifest itself in reduced exports and loss of employment among other challenges,” he said.

“However, it is projected that the implementation of the AfCFTA will boost intra-Africa trade by $35 billion, increase value-chain development across all sectors, enhance the competitiveness of industry and reduce the trade deficit by 50 percent.”