African regional integration to enhance economic growth: experts

KIGALI, March 21 (Xinhua) -- African regional integration will help enhance economic development, Rwandan experts said Tuesday, ahead of a "historic signing."

This will be achieved through the lowest transaction costs for business, lower risks associated with investments, expansion of markets, better utilization of economies of scale in production and more efficient allocation of resources, said Ismael Buchanan, Dean of the School of Economics and Governance at the University of Rwanda, on Tuesday.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is an example toward the integration and will mark a key milestone in the integration, Buchanan told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

African heads of state and government are meeting Wednesday at an extraordinary session of the African Union (AU) assembly of the heads of state and government.

Signing of the agreement establishing the AfCFTA is taking place at the meeting held on the last day of the AU extraordinary summit on the AfCFTA.

African countries are also signing the Protocol to the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community relating to free movement of persons, right of residence and right of establishment, as well as Kigali Declaration that Kigali Declaration that expresses African unity in moving forward.

Some 40 countries are set to sign the agreement establishing the AfCFTA, Chairperson of AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat said during the ongoing signing ceremony.

The integration will raise Africa's potential through increasing intra-African trade, said Teddy Kaberuka, an economic analyst.

This will lead to promotion of production capacity, thus, some important goods could be substituted to local production, Kaberuka said, adding that increased production capacity will also help create jobs. Enditem