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Nqobile Bhebhe, [email protected]

An economic expert has said Zimbabwe is ranked second in Africa as a major potential beneficiary of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

The AfCFTA agreement, to which Zimbabwe is a signatory, aims to eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of goods traded between Member States over ten years.

Signed by 54 African Heads of State, the agreement seeks to create a single African market of 1.3 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$3.4 trillion.

Once fully implemented, AfCFTA will be the world’s largest new free trade area since the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994.

Speaking at the inaugural National Competitiveness Commission Competitiveness Summit in Bulawayo, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries chief economist, Dr Cornelous Dube, said: “According to a study that was done on the Africa Coordinated Free Trade Area, Zimbabwe is the second most beneficiary under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area with real income gains, which is expected to increase by about 12 percent if the Africa Coordinated Free Trade Area is fully implemented.

“After Cote d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe is number two.So, in other words, what this is telling us is that Zimbabwe has potential.”

The inaugural summit is themed “Building Sustainability Towards Enhanced Productivity and Competitiveness in Zimbabwe.”

However, Dr Dube stressed that this potential can only be realised “if we do trade facilitation and not non-tariff measures to ensure that they complement the tariff.”

Trade experts agree that the AfCFTA agreement has the potential to reshape markets and economies across the region, leading to the creation of new industries and the expansion of key sectors.