ADDIS ABABA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Niger has deposited document with the African Union (AU) for the country's ratification of the agreement that establishes the African continental free trade area (AfCFTA).
Receiving the document on Friday, the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, urged the member states that have not yet done so to take the necessary measures to ratify the AfCFTA, according to an AU statement on Saturday.
Mahamat has also urged the member states to sign and ratify the protocol on the free movement of persons, the right of residence and the right of establishment and to join the single African air transport market (SAATM), which he said are vital for integration of the African continent.
In March, 44 AU member states signed the AfCFTA during the AU extraordinary summit in Kigali, Rwanda, and 31 members signed the protocol relating to the free movement of persons, the right of residence and the right of establishment.
A minimum of 22 ratifications are required to enable the AfCFTA to come into force, while 15 ratifications for the protocol on free movement of persons, right of residence and right of establishment.
So far, four countries including Ghana, Kenya, Niger, and Rwanda have already ratified the free trade area agreement (AfCFTA).
Rwanda has also deposited its instrument of ratification of the protocol on free movement of persons, right of residence and right of establishment.
A single purchase
