The Minister of Trade and Industry, Victor Fernandes, considered, on Saturday, Angola's accession to the free trade area of the African continent as an opportunity for the country's entrepreneurial class.

Speaking to the press in Luanda, at the end of the 13th extraordinary session of the African Union, by videoconference, the Angolan government official stressed that in addition to new opportunities for businessmen, the area of free trade will help improve the quality of products and services.

“We are going to have an increasing offer in terms of quality of products and services, because not only Angola will supply these products, but other countries will also do so,” the minister said after the meeting. in which Angola was represented by President of the Republic, João Lourenço.

The African Free Trade Agreement, of which Angola is a party, comes into force in January 2021.

Of the 54 African states, 30 have already ratified the treaty. In a first phase, it will lead to the elimination of customs duties on 90% of products.

The objective of the African Union is to create a vast free trade zone, with an estimated market of 2.5 trillion dollars.

Victor Fernandes said that all products made by Angola have space in the free trade zone, provided they comply with the rules established under the agreement.

With this opening, Angola "will take advantage of the advantages and benefit from what it does not yet have", according to the minister, adding that, on the African continent, the country is at the top of the chain.

“The country has a very stable financial market and with great capacity even to export knowledge. That could be an asset,” he said.

In another aspect, Minister Victor Fernandes assured that there is a sufficient supply of products for the festive season, without "objective reason to worry".

“We follow the evolution of prices on a daily basis. We have seen an increase in market basket prices which is worrying the Executive,” he said.

For his part, the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs (MIREX), Téte António, said that Angola's adherence to the project will allow greater openness to the world in commercial terms, stressing that the essence of the summit was to provide a legal basis for the entry into force of the African Economic Zone next month.