LUSAKA, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Africa's biggest trading bloc on Monday called on the continent to formalize the Continental Free Trade Area.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) said it was time leaders started serious negotiations for the Continental Free Trade Area.
Kipyego Cheluget, assistant secretary-general of the 19-member regional bloc, said the success of regional integration was largely dependent on the relationship between the public and private sectors.
The official, who was speaking at the start of the 7th COMESA Business Council annual general meeting in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, added that the establishment of the free trading area will enhance intra-Africa trade.
During the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of State and Government of the African Union (AU) held in Ethiopia in January 2012, African leaders adopted a decision to establish a Continental Free Trade Area by an indicative date of 2017.
The establishment of the free trading arrangement will bring together 54 countries with a combined population of more than one billion people and a combined gross domestic product of more than 3.4 trillion U.S. dollars.
