Tunisia Export First Shipment of Resin to Cameroon under AfCFTA
Tunisia shipped its first consignment of resin to Cameroon on July 17, 2023, in accordance with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The 60 tonnes of resin in the shipment, which is valued at €90,000 (or TND 204,000), was cleared through customs by the “Port Autonome de Kribi” (PAK), a Cameroonian organization.
According to CEPEX, this operation represents a significant step towards greater economic cooperation under the AfCFTA.
It will provide chances for constructive interactions between the participating nations and open the door to a bright future for economic integration in Africa.
A New Era of Pan-African trade
The importance of this first operation between Tunisia and Cameroon was emphasized by Tunisia’s ambassador to Yaoundé, Karim Ben Bécher.
Cameroon continues to be Tunisia’s top partner in Central Africa and its fourth-largest customer in sub-Saharan Africa.
He declared that “this operation will serve as the cornerstone for the beginning of a new era of pan-African trade.”
Luc-Magloire Mbarga Atangana, the minister of trade of Cameroon, reaffirmed the necessity of stepping up product export activities to enable the effective inclusion of African nations in the AfCFTA.
In order to help Africa produce what it consumes and consume what it produces, he emphasized the necessity to improve the services related to this commerce.
The AfCFTA Agreement
Two Tunisian export businesses involved in the food and chemical industries received the first certificates of origin under the AfCFTA agreement to sell to Cameroon, according to a May 17, 2023 announcement from the Ministry of Trade and Export Development.
Companies will be able to take advantage of the customs duty reductions that are scheduled to be eliminated in two years with the help of the certificate of origin, which is thought to be a crucial component in the agreement’s effective entry into force.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which intends to ease trade through a selection of businesses and products for export and import between member states, now includes Tunisia, Cameroon, and six other member states (Egypt, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mauritius).
In May 2019, the AfCFTA agreement went into effect. On August 7, 2020, Tunisia ratified it.
One of the African Union’s (AU) flagship projects, it aims to strengthen trade ties between the 55 member states of the organization in a market with more than 300 million consumers and $3,400 billion in annual trade in order to advance South-South cooperation for a “integrated, prosperous, and peaceful” Africa in accordance with the AU’s Agenda 2063.
The pact intends to eliminate customs restrictions on the unrestricted flow of products and services among African nations.
What you should know
On 7 October 2022, the #AfCFTASecretariat launched the #AfCFTAGuidedTradeInitiative in #Accra, #Ghana to allow for commercially meaningful trade under the Agreement to commence for EIGHT (8) participating countries: #Cameroon ????????, #Egypt ????????, #Ghana ????????, #Kenya ????????, #Mauritius ????????, #Rwanda ????????, #Tanzania ???????? and #Tunisia ????????, representing the five regions of #AFRICA.
This initiative is being used to pilot the operational, institutional, legal and trade policy environment under the AfCFTA.
The #AU has designated 2023 theme “The Year of AfCFTA: Acceleration of the AfCFTA Implementation,”
AFRICA’s Trade Potential is LIMITLESS
