Kigali, Saturday 05 December 2020 – President Kagame has on Saturday participated in the 13th Extraordinary Sessions of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) which took place virtually.

The 13th Extraordinary AU Summit began on the morning of 05 December 2020 to finalise the instruments of African Continental Free Trade Area so that trading may commence on 1 January 2021. After the opening ceremony with statements by the Chairperson of the AU, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, participants moved into closed session. President Kagame made a statement during the closed session stressing the importance of the AfCFTA to Africa's integration and prosperity agenda.

President Kagame congratulate the African Ministers of Trade, the African Union Commission, and the new AfCFTA Secretariat for successfully overseeing the technical negotiations. He stressed that The Continental Free Trade Area is the lifeblood of our continent’s integration and prosperity. It will also be the primary portal through which Africa engages with its partners around the world on trade and investment. We must therefore work together continuously to protect and strengthen this pact for the sake of the generations that follow us.

For full speech, click here