MEDIA ADVISORY

Press briefing of H.E. ISSOUFOU MAHAMADOU, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF NIGER AND CHAMPION OF THE CONTINENTAL FREE TRADE AREA (CFTA) PROCESS

What: Press briefing of the President of Niger, Champion of the CFTA process.

Who: H. E. Issoufou Mahamadou, President of Niger

When: 04 July 2017 from 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Where: African Union Headquarters, Briefing room 1

Objective:

The objective of the Press briefing is to update the media on the progress made so far on the CFTA process as H.E. President Issoufou Mahamadou was mandated during the 28th Ordinary Session of the African Union Heads of State and Government, to champion the process of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) Negotiations. The assignment requires that he reports to the Assembly on measures taken to ensure that the deadline of the end of 2017 to finalize the legal text and annexes establishing the CFTA is met.

Background:

The 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly held in January 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, adopted an Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade. It also agreed on a Roadmap for the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) to be operationalized by an indicative date of 2017. The Continental Free Trade Area is one of the priority areas of the First Ten Year Implementation Plan under African Union Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want.

During the 25th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government held on 15th June 2015, in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Assembly took another historic and strategic decision of launching the CFTA negotiations and adopting a framework and principles to guide the CFTA Negotiations.

In deciding to establish the CFTA, the Assembly also underlined that the level of ambition in trade in goods and trade in services should be sufficiently high. This decision was made in order to ensure that the final Agreement is commercially meaningful and creates real economic opportunities for business persons within the continent and foreign investors. Subsequently the 27th and 28th Ordinary AU Summits reiterated Heads of State and Government’s commitment to conclude the CFTA negotiations by 2017.

The African Union Commission has worked with African Union Member States, Regional Economic Communities and key strategic partners to generate results.

The President of the Republic of Niger also hosted from 5th to 16th June 2017 in Niamey, Niger, the 3rd Meeting of the African Union Ministers of Trade including the 6th Meeting of CFTA-Negotiating Forum and the 3rd Meeting of the Senior Trade Officials.

Media representatives are invited to cover the Press Briefing.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Prudence Sebahizi, Head of CFTA Unit - Email: SehahiziP@africa-union.org

Media contacts:

Patient Atcho, Department of Trade and Industry – Tel: + 251 929335250 - Email: atchop@africa-union.org

For further information:

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I DIC@africa-union.org I www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

For further information:

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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