South Africa will favour the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area within the BRICS framework

South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana pledged that South Africa would uphold the core principles of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in the enlarged BRICS group of developing countries.

AfCFTA is the world's largest free trade area, bringing together 55 African Union countries and eight regional economic communities to create a single continental market with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined gross domestic product of about US$3.4 trillion.

The African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat has unveiled the first ever AfCFTA private sector action plan, with 12 industry giants committing to projects to transform the automotive, agriculture and agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, and logistics and transport sectors.

AfCFTA Secretary General Wamkele Mene admitted that these commitments totalling $130 billion signify a leap in realising the potential of intra-African trade.

Godongwana said that the development of AfCFTA and the expansion of the BRICS bloc are the two important developments for the South African economy this year as they are happening simultaneously.

He also announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa will present the AfCFTA from a South African perspective on 31 January. This is reported by Pretoria News, a partner of TV BRICS.