The Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wamkele Mene, has successfully concluded his two-day official working visit to the Republic of Tunisia. Held on June 11 and 12, 2026, this vital visit further deepened the partnership between the Secretariat and the Government of Tunisia, concluding with a jointly agreed action plan designed to translate the country’s advanced standing within the framework of the agreement into expanded trade across the African continent.
During his two-day mission, the Secretary-General held highly productive meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Mohamed Ali Nafti, and the Minister of Trade and Export Development, Samir Abid. Additionally, he addressed the accredited African diplomatic community in Tunis during a special engagement at the International Diplomatic Academy of Tunis, conducted a working dialogue with representatives of the Tunisian private sector at the Export Promotion Centre (CEPEX), and concluded his visit with a comprehensive press conference for the local media.
The Secretary-General warmly commended Tunisia for establishing itself as one of the most advanced State Parties in implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement. Tunisia ratified the agreement back in 2020, actively participated in the experimental Guided Trade Initiative, and successfully domesticated its tariff schedules to open its market for preferential trade under the AfCFTA. To date, competent authorities in Tunisia have issued more than 300 AfCFTA certificates of origin, a milestone that has significantly facilitated and accelerated trade for Tunisian enterprises across Africa. The Secretary-General formally acknowledged Tunisia’s highly constructive role throughout the negotiation processes, describing the strengthening of this partnership with the government as a central objective of his mission—one that has been fully achieved.
This two-day visit placed a particular and strategic emphasis on the private sector, which the Secretary-General identified as the decisive force in making the agreement commercially viable and meaningful. In his interactive dialogue with Tunisian enterprises, he explicitly outlined that the first and most crucial task is the precise identification of market opportunities. This involves identifying both the specific African markets to which Tunisia can export its goods and the continental markets from which it can import products. This strategy operates on the mutual principle that Tunisian products must reach African markets just as African products must successfully reach Tunisia.
The Secretary-General strongly emphasized that Tunisia should seize this opportunity to diversify its export capabilities across the entire continent, moving beyond its traditional and long-established regional trade partners. He noted that the African continent is fully open for business for Tunisia, extending far beyond the existing COMESA regional framework. Furthermore, he explained that the agreement has moved decisively from a phase of negotiation to one of tangible implementation, asserting that the AfCFTA is no longer just a negotiation but an operating reality on the ground, with Tunisia being among the prominent countries proving that it actually works.
At the conclusion of the visit, a highly focused joint action plan was agreed upon between the Secretary-General and the Tunisian authorities. This deliberate plan centers its core strategic attention on four primary areas: the development of transport and logistics infrastructure, the creation of a dedicated trade corridor linking the Sahel region to the Mediterranean, active private-sector engagement, and widespread awareness-raising initiatives. The overall progress of this action plan will be reviewed through continuous and structured institutional dialogue, with several key priorities scheduled to be taken forward immediately.
To support this transition, the Secretary-General detailed the various operational pan-African instruments currently available to business enterprises. These include the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which allows companies to settle international trade transactions using their respective local currencies, as well as various digital connectivity tools and market intelligence platforms developed under the trade digitization initiative pursued since 2020. Confirming that this visit is part of a continuous sequence of engagement, Wamkele Mene committed to returning for both the upcoming Tunisia Investment Forum and the Tunisia-Africa Business Forum, promising the full technical and political support of the Secretariat while ensuring that existing trade constraints are systematically addressed through a coordinated agenda involving governments, the private sector, regional institutions, and development finance partners.
