Deputy Secretary-General's remarks to the 12th Extraordinary Session of the African Union on the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Your Excellency, Mr. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Chairperson of the African Union;

Your Excellency, Mr. Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger and Leader of the African Continental Free Trade Area;

Your Excellency, Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission;

Excellencies, Heads of State; Honourable Ministers; African Union Commissioners; Ambassadors;

Distinguished representatives from the private sector, civil society and the media; Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great honour to be here with you to mark the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area and the beginning of its transitional phase to full operationalization.

I congratulate all those involved in bringing this historic agreement to fruition, and particularly the African Union Summit Champion for the African Continental Free Trade Area, His Excellency Mr. Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger and our host here in Niamey, on the banks of the River Niger, itself an important and historical waterway for connecting markets and generating intra-African trade.

I cannot overstate the importance of this Agreement and what has been achieved. Suffice to say that Africa's economic integration was the long-cherished vision of the Organisation of African Unity, the precursor to the African Union.

With the signing of the Agreement by Nigeria and Benin at this Summit, it is deeply gratifying to see that the African Continental Free Trade Area market will bring together almost all African Union member states.

The world's largest free trade area, encompassing 54 countries and 1.2 billion people the African Continental Free Trade Area will bring the promise of trade-led economic growth closer to reality for Africa's entrepreneurs, industrialists, investors, innovators and service suppliers.

It will create jobs and contribute to technology-transfer and the development of new skills; it will improve productive capacity and diversification; and it will increase African and foreign investment.

Perhaps most important of all, the African Continental Free Trade Area demonstrates the common will of African countries to work together to achieve the vision of the Africa Union's Agenda 2063: the Africa We Want.

It is a tool to unleash African innovation, drive growth, transform African economies and contribute to a prosperous, stable and peaceful African continent, as foreseen in both Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable...