Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Trading under Phase I of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which began on 1^st January 2021, marks a key turning point in African economic integration. It will reduce barriers to intra-African trade and diminish the complexity and costs of operating across African countries for British businesses. It should lift millions out of poverty too, and drive industrialisation on the continent.

To fully realise its benefits, the ongoing Phase II negotiations must be successfully concluded, and the agreement fully implemented. The United Kingdom has supported AfCFTA negotiations with targeted technical assistance and my Hon. Friend, the Minister for Africa (James Duddridge), recently expressed our support for AfCFTA to its Secretary-General.