Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are giving to the African Union for the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The UK welcomes the creation of the AU's African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which began trading on 1 January 2021. When fully implemented, a common African market will have a combined GDP of $2.6 trillion (approximately £1.84 trillion) and could lead to a 33% increase in intra-African trade, with opportunities for the African continent and for UK businesses and investors. The UK is supporting the AfCFTA through secondment of experts into the AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra, Ghana, the provision of research support through the UN Economic Commission for Africa, and capacity-building events for national and regional trade negotiators involved in the ongoing AfCFTA negotiations.