User:Michaeldelrieu/sandbox

me Continental Free Trade Area The Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) iniative's ultimate aim is to unite all 54 states in Africa in a single free trade area by uniting existing free trade zone and unions. It is to join the tripartite free trade area, covering the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on the one hand and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the other, alongside the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD)

The decision to launch the Continental Free Trade Area project was taken in January 2012, at the 18th Ordinary Session of the AU Conference The negotiation process is launched in June 2015 in Johannesburg at the 25th Ordinary Session of the AU Conference. At this session, the objectives, principles, and roadmap to create the CFTA are set. In February 2016, the first negotiating forum for the Continental Free Trade Area was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In the same month, a meeting was held in Abidjan to prepare this forum, which would include, in addition to the regional communities listed above, members of the United Nations, the African Union, the African Development Bank and Civil society. In May 2016, the second continental free trade area negotiating forum was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It aims to define the contours of the CFTA, in collaboration with the United Nations and the African Union. In October 2016, the third negotiating forum for the Continental Free Trade Area was held in Addis Ababa.