At the invitation of the Government of Angola, H.E. Wamkele Mene concluded a mission that carried the promise of the continental market from Luanda’s International Trade Fair (FILDA 2026) to the industrial sites of Soyo.
ACCRA, 25 July 2026 — The Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), H.E. Wamkele Mene, has concluded a working mission to Angola with high-level discussions at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Republic of Angola.
During a meeting with the Minister of Industry and Commerce, H.E. Dr Rui Miguêns de Oliveira, the two sides agreed to deepen efforts to mobilise the private sector, connect African producers to trade finance and continental markets, and convene an intensive private-sector engagement in Angola, bringing together businesses and Africa’s development-finance institutions. The meeting capped a mission undertaken at the invitation of the Government of Angola, carrying a consistent message from the exhibition halls to the factory floor: under the AfCFTA, production and market access must be pursued as one agenda.
The understanding reached at the Ministry built on what the Secretary-General had witnessed on the ground. A day earlier, in Zaire Province, he visited two industrial projects illustrating the practical promise of the AfCFTA. In Soyo, he toured AMUFERT, a US$2 billion natural-gas-to-fertiliser complex developed by the OPAIA Group, built to produce around 1.38 million tonnes of granulated urea annually — enough to meet Angola’s national fertiliser demand and supply other African markets — and to create around 4,700 jobs during construction and operation. He also visited the OPAIA Motors vehicle-assembly plant in the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone, whose vehicles carry the signature “Made in Africa for the world.” The industrial visits were facilitated by the OPAIA Group.
Together, the two projects illustrate the transformation the AfCFTA is intended to accelerate: African resources transformed on African soil to serve African markets. A factory, the Secretary-General observed, reaches its full potential only when what it produces can move efficiently across borders. Under the AfCFTA, goods that satisfy the applicable Rules of Origin qualify for preferential tariff treatment when accompanied by the AfCFTA Certificate of Origin — the mechanism that enables products made in Africa to reach a continental market of 1.4 billion people on preferential terms, turning an industrial project from a national asset into a continental proposition.
“The industrialisation of our continent will be led by Africans. Africa is a net food importer — and we do not have to be. By producing our own fertilisers and processing our own resources, we tackle food insecurity at its root while creating value and prosperity here on the continent.”
— H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat
The mission began at FILDA, the 41st edition of the Luanda International Trade Fair, where the Secretary-General attended as guest of honour of the Government of Angola. Alongside the Minister of State for Economic Coordination, H.E. José de Lima Massano, he toured the exhibition and engaged with Angolan and continental businesses showcasing products and capabilities spanning agro-processing, manufacturing and industry.
From the trade-fair floor to the factory floor, and ultimately to the policymaking table, the Angola mission forms part of the AfCFTA Secretariat’s sustained effort to move the Agreement from ratification to implementation. Its objective is to translate a legal instrument into everyday commercial opportunities for African producers, businesses and consumers. As the Secretary-General emphasised throughout the mission: produce locally, trade continentally. What Africa makes, Africa can buy.
About the AfCFTA
The African Continental Free Trade Area is a flagship project of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. It entered into force on 30 May 2019, started trading on 1 January 2021, and brings together a market of 1.4 billion people with a combined GDP of USD 3.4 trillion — with the potential to raise intra-African trade substantially through tariff liberalisation and trade facilitation.
Media contact
Alexandre Siewe
Senior Advisor, Communications — AfCFTA Secretariat
Email: [email protected] Web: au-afcfta.org
