They spoke at a high-level roundtable on the status, challenges and prospects of AfCFTA and SAATM, under the theme, ‘The Year of the AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.’
AIEDP Director, Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, said both AfCFTA and SAATM are linked to each other, contributing to the movement of capital and people as well as facilitating investments. An effective functioning of SAATM, she said, would allow Africans to gain in comfort and choice of airlines, reduced flight times, increased business opportunities and strengthened cultural ties through the progressive development of business and leisure tourism.
On his part, the Ambassador of the Republic of Gabon and Dean of the Africa group of Ambassadors in Senegal, Michel Régis Onanga Mamadou Ndiaye, regretted that Africans continue to have great difficulty in moving from one country to another within Africa, adding that it was time to take ownership of AfCFTA and SAATM, two closely-related and fundamental issues for the continent.