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The African Association of Automotive Manufacturers welcomed the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which came into being on 1 January.
AAAM CEO, Dave Coffey, said this would ultimately become the world's largest free-trade bloc covering a market of initially more than 1.3 billion people and up to $3 trillion dollars in GDP.
He said the African Continental Free Trade Area has the potential of increasing Intra Africa trade by over 50%.
“The Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which was finalised at the virtual African Union Summit in December is an important milestone for the realisation of the AAAM’s vision of building a successful automotive ecosystem which will lead to a sustainable industry that creates significant jobs and assists in the industrialization of the auto sector for Africa,” Coffey said.
The establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area was necessary and opportune considering the unprecedented population growth, the high proportion of youth and the growing middle class.
“The Secretariat of the AfCFTA has the unique opportunity of shaping a continental automotive policy with countries that are willing to participate in the industrialisation of the auto sector,” said Coffey.
He said the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers was fully committed to supporting the Secretariat in realizing the vision, of creating demand and production for 5 million new vehicles per annum from the 2019 level of 1.1 million.
Coffey said it was anticipated that the Rules of Origin for the automotive industry would be concluded by mid-2021 thus paving the way for real industrialisation of the sector across the continent.
