Egypt and Djibouti are in talks over establishing a mega logistical zone that would help boosting intra-African trade, the Egyptian Commercial Service Office's (ECS) head Ahmed Antar said on Thursday. This came during the meeting of the export committee at the Egyptian Businessmen Association (EBA) under Mostafa el Naggari and in the presence of Sherif Elgabaly, EBA board member and chairman of Economic Cooperation with Africa Committee along with several directors of departments concerned with trade representation. During the meeting, the ECS chief said the logistical zone is one of the national projects that serve the State's strategy and approach aimed at facilitating trade and entrance to the African markets as well as beefing up exports. Work is underway under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which brings together 54 African countries, Antar said, adding that it will be implemented over several phases starting by goods and services trade in a way that will allow the liberation of 90 percent of African trade. Antar pointed out that the articles of the convention will come into effect as of July 2020, hailing the future of the inter-trade between Egypt and Africa as promising mainly in light of Egypt's chairmanship of the African Union (AU). The volume of inter-trade between Egypt and the African countries represents 15 percent of Africa's total trade with the world countries, he noted. Source: MENA
