Addis Ababa, March 20, 2025 (FMC) — The special economic zones and investments in agriculture, aviation and road transport sectors would position Ethiopia in optimizing the African Continental Free Trade Africa (AfCFTA), UNECA Regional Integration and Trade Division Director Stephen Karingi said.
The director stated that the role of Ethiopia in the continental integration is well and well documented, specifically in advancing the AfCFTA.
Under the AfCFTA, the nation can take advantage of the continental free trade area and sits in a very advantageous position, he added.
In this respect, Karingi revealed that Ethiopia is making a lot of progress in terms of preparing its national AfCFTA implementation strategy, urging the other countries to have national implementation mechanisms.
According to him, the special economic zones that have been developed and investments in sectors such as aviation, agriculture and transport would position Ethiopia to utilize AfCFTA’s potential.
“If you look at the special economic zones and at the investments in aviation, rural and road transport sectors, all these investments position Ethiopia in a very strong or pole position in optimizing the AfCFTA.”
The economic zones of the country can supply products for domestic demand of the large population of Ethiopia, and also would take the advantage of the 1.5 billion people under the continental free trade area by supplying skills and the resources, he elaborated.
Karingi believes that Ethiopia’s economic investments over the past decade and a half are exemplary, and the initiatives encouraging other African nations to transition from guided trade initiatives to more universal trading practices.
This transformation is essential for realizing the full potential of the AfCFTA, reflecting a growing confidence in the country’s ability to navigate the complexities of the continental free trade area and capitalize on the benefits it offers, he told local news agency ENA.
“Strategically speaking, I think the investments over the last 10-15 years really position Ethiopia probably to be really pushing everybody to make their tariff concessions so that we move from the guided trade initiative to universal trading under the AfCFTA.”