The Ministry of International Relations and Trade has announced the official launch of Namibia’s first export consignment under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework.
The event is scheduled to take place today, at Walvis Bay and will be officiated by the Minister of International Relations and Trade, Selma Ashipala-Musavyi.
This historic event will mark the beginning of Namibia’s active participation in the AfCFTA, an African Union’s flagship initiative under Agenda 2063, which aims to create a single continental market for goods and services, promoting economic integration and development across Africa.
With a market of over 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of approximately US$3.4 trillion, the AfCFTA offers Namibian businesses a tremendous opportunity to expand their market reach, enhance competitiveness, and contribute to economic growth and diversification.
Meanwhile, Namibia has demonstrated consistent commitment to the AfCFTA process. The country signed the agreement on 2 July 2018, ratified it on 25 January 2019, and deposited its instrument of ratification on 1 February 2019. In a significant move towards operational readiness, Namibia gazetted its AfCFTA tariff offer on 20 December 2024, thereby positioning itself to begin trading under the framework.
This initiative is expected to open new trade opportunities for Namibian producers and exporters through reduced tariffs and streamlined trade policies, thereby facilitating greater competitiveness in the African market. It will also support the diversification of Namibia’s economy by stimulating growth in a range of sectors and contributing to job creation and industrial development.
Moreover, the combined US$3 trillion AfCFTA GDP is expected to more than double by 2050.
AfCFTA also represents a significant milestone on the journey to African integration and development because it is a catalyst for new ways of doing business, producing, working and trading within Africa and with the rest of the world.
AfCFTA will make intra-Africa trade easier by achieving several important inter-related objectives by removing existing trade barriers and common policies are being implemented to ease the movement of goods, money, people, businesses and services. AfCFTA is also expected to make it easier for businesses, especially small businesses, to trade and is expected to remove non-tariff barriers, which are measures that make trade between African countries difficult in the form of customs delays.
In the medium to long-term AfCFTA is expected to build African expertise in the areas of intellectual property rights, investment, competition and e-commerce while at the same time lowering taxes and tariffs between member countries. The free trade agreement is also expected to help develop policies that facilitate trade and related services, such as the building of African infrastructure such as roads and ports.