The Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, H.E. Wamkele Mene, received yesterday in Cairo a delegation from #SierraLeone, led by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Alpha Ibrahim Sesay, with whom he discussed the #AfCFTA and the importance of infrastructure for promoting intra-African trade.

The Secretary General outlined the existing mechanisms related to soft infrastructure, in particular the legal provisions related to transit and customs procedures.

His Excellency Wamkele Mene also explained the activities carried out by the Secretariat on trade corridors in Africa, in particular the Abidjan – Lagos corridor which serves five participating countries, namely #CotedIvoire, #Ghana, #Togo, #Benin and #Nigeria.

For his part, the Minister expressed his country’s interest in the negotiations on Digital Trade, Women and Youth in trade, as well as participation in the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI).

The AfCFTA Secretariat has been requested to collaborate with the government of Sierra Leone to organise activities related to the implementation of the Agreement, and aimed at increasing awareness, and preparing Sierra Leone’s private sector to benefit from the AfCFTA.

The Sierra Leonean delegation included the Deputy Minister of Finance, Hon. Bockarie Albert Kalokoh.