Tunisia-PM Mechichi:Trade between Tunisia and African nations declines short of expectations

Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi announced  Wednesday that the volume of trade between Tunisia and the other African nations declines short of expectations, notwithstanding the potential of this market. “Even if these exchanges have experienced a remarkable growth in recent years, it is nevertheless crucial to pool efforts to a level that asserts to the exemplary relationships connecting the African countries,” the PM said at the opening of Tunisia-Africa E-Business Meetings, held November 18-20.

He affirmed that Tunisia’s membership, in early 2020, in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) will secure the free movement of goods and services. PM Mechichi added that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) deal will aid trade in services and goods across the continent from January 2021 and will consequently set up a legal framework to oversee policies associated to competition, investment, intellectual property and e-commerce.

In view of this supplementary economic dynamic, Mechichi called on all African nations to invest more in its resources. With regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, the premier stressed the necessity to identify and make the most of the chances rising from this crisis by laying greater emphasis on investment and private initiative.

Taking the floor on this occasion, Minister of Trade and Export Development Mohamed Bousaid evoked that the share of African trade in the global trade does not surpass5%, with about 16% of intra-African trade. These indicators, he spoke, verify that the potential for trade between African countries remains untapped, calling on countries to remedy this situation. Director-General of the Export Promotion Centre Chiheb Ben Ahmed specified that 1,000 private sector operators representing Tunisia and other African countries had taken part in the conference.