Heraikah: African Continental Free Trade Agreement is important for Sudan

Prime Minister Adviser Dr. Adam Heraikah has said that organizing the capacity building workshop on the implementation o the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in Khartoum comes at an important time and would enable the Sudan to benefit from the value added chain.

Addressing the opening session of the five-day capacity building workshop at Grand Holiday Villa Hotel in Khartoum, Dr. Adam described AfCFTA as a big step achieved by the African continent, noting that it aims at facilitating the continental trade.

He noted that the AfCFTA benefits both private and public sectors, saying that it enables Sudanese exports access to the African and regional markets.

For his part, ECA advisor Waleed El-Zomor, explained that AfCFTA aims to liberalize trade exchange between the African countries within five to ten years at the latest.

He said that the agreement aims to increase the volume of intra-regional trade in goods and services, in turn, contributing to improving the standard of living and the well-being of citizens in all countries of the continent, noting that the goal is also to remove all obstacles and customs and technical restrictions that represent a barrier to the flow of trade between member states.

The workshop seeks to support Sudanese official efforts to increase their capacity to design and implement national policies related to trade and the AfCFTA so as to allow the country to make the most of the agreement and increase the national trade with the rest of the region.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Trade Nader Awad stressed the importance of access of Sudanese exports to African and regional markets, referring to the great resources the country enjoys.

For his part, the head of the National Chamber of Exporters, Omer Khalifa, appreciated the continuous African support, noting that, as an exporters’ chamber, they had suffered greatly in the past due to the policies of the defunct regime, stressing their aspiration to return to global markets again, pointing out that the biggest problem facing the sector is customs and tax barriers in the African region.