eSwatini is keeping its fingers crossed as King Mswati III attends the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) meeting in Niger where the headquarters of the Africa Free Trade Area will be decided.
The king, who is in the company of his first wife, Inkhosikati LaMatsebula departed from the King Mswati III International Airport on Thursday for the meeting where the host of the AfCFTA host will be announced.
eSwatini is among the contestants together with Ethiopia, Egypt, Senegal, Kenya and Ghana.
Hosting the AfCFTA would ensure that eSwatini becomes Africa’s commercial hub.
The country will become a hive of business activities, through hosting various African Union meetings and thus enhancing tourism.
Moreover, this will create about 200 jobs.
Commerce, Industry and Trade Minister Manqoba Khumalo previously explained that this platform intends to bring together all 55 African Union member states under a common trade banner.
With a projected cumulative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$3.4 trillion and a combined population of 1.2 billion inhabitants, the AfCFTA is earmarked to create a single market for AfCFTA.
From Niger the king will proceed to Senegal and Mauritania where he will embark on state visits, the purposes for which have not been disclosed.
BM/as/APA