COTU-Kenya and the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) are seeking representation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) National Committee.
A high-level delegation of COTU-Kenya and ITUC-Africa has met with Investments, Trade, and Industry CS Salim Mvurya to lobby for representation in the committee.
ITUC-Africa General Secretary Joel Odigie and COTU-K board
member and Deputy President of the ITUC-Africa Rose Omamo, who represented
Francis Atwoli, led the delegation.
“The meeting is a demonstration of the African trade unions’ resolve to promote job growth and shared prosperity-led trade in Africa,” the unions said in a statement.
The AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area bringing together the 55 countries of the African Union (AU) and eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to create a single market for the continent.
The aim is to enable the free flow of goods and services
across the continent and boost the trading position of Africa in the global
market.
In a statement, COTU-Kenya and ITUC-Africa said the meeting
also aimed to buttress and affirm African trade unions’ commitment to playing
an active role towards the success of AfCFTA from a workers’ perspective.
The ITUC-Africa delegation while praising Kenya for its strides at improving trade facilitation through infrastructure development and visa regime arrangement, called for more efforts to deepen and support the growth of intra-African trade based on shared principles and collective effort.
The delegation also affirmed that African trade unions are convinced that whole-of-society, whole-of-stakeholders and whole-of-agencies approaches are critical for the successful implementation of the AfCFTA.
The visiting delegation impressed the Ministry to ensure the inclusion of COTU-K representatives in the National Implementing Committee of AfCFTA in Kenya.
Mvurya thanked the delegation for recognizing the strides made by Kenya in the area of trade and investment.
Mvurya also informed the delegation of the steady strides that Kenya is making in the implementation of the AfCFTA
He affirmed Kenya’s readiness to support initiatives that would further the effective implementation of the AfCFTA such as the inclusion of labour provisions in the AfCFTA protocols.
