The leaves Eritrea as the only African country outside the market of more than 1,2 billion that will be worth nearly $3,5 trillion.

Signing the Free Trade Agreement as he met with his peers in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari says without Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest economy, the trade pact is lacking.

Trading will start a year from now, to give the 54 signatory countries time to grow accustomed to the new order.

The agreement will boost intra-African trade by 60% and will cover the largest free trade area on the planet.

First step will be cutting tariffs from within the block but no exact timeframe has been given for this.  

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Diplomats from that country say African foreign ministers have made the decision to be inked by their leaders at their summit starting in Niger today.

The ultimate goal of the African Free Trade Agreement, which will come into force at the AU summit in Niamey, is to remove trade barriers and tariffs between the 55 members of the continental bloc.

For the time being, they will work on reducing high transport cost and cumbersome customs regimes that stop African countries trading with each other.

When all AU members are signed up the agreement will encompass a market of 1,2 billion people.

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