He was speaking at the African Union Parliamentary Association dinner hosted in his honour during a visit to Japan.

The AU has set 2017 as the time for the implementation of CFTA, under which African states are expected to reduce trade barriers among themselves by drastically reducing export and import duties and waiving visa requirements in some cases.

Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) covers more than 650 million people in 26 countries with combined gross domestic product amounting to 60% of Africa’s total. TFTA will become effective once parliament has adopted it.

Source: Cape Business News/ CBN
Available: http://www.cbn.co.za/component/k2/item/3352-free-trade-agreement-to-offer-limitless-opportunities