Tunisia has issued between 200 and 300 certificates of origin for the shipment of locally produced goods to other African countries, the AfCFTA secretariat announced on April 16.
“This is a promising figure, especially given the challenges many countries face in this area,” said Chawki Jaballi, head of training and capacity building on customs issues at the AfCFTA Secretariat who was speaking during a regional workshop aimed at helping approved businesses better understand the trade facilitation rules under the agreement.
Certificates of Origin are official documents that certify where a product was made or processed. They are often required by customs authorities in importing countries to qualify for trade benefits such as reduced tariffs.
These certificates will become even more valuable from January 1, 2026, when tariffs on goods traded between African countries under the AfCFTA are expected to be phased out.
The AfCFTA is a major initiative to create a single market of 1.3 billion people across the continent with a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion. The trading bloc is expected to increase intra-African trade by 53%, add $1 trillion to Africa’s industrial output, lift 50 million people out of poverty and create 14 million new jobs, according to World Bank projections.
Still, Tunisia has plenty of room to grow. The country has an estimated $1.2 billion in untapped export potential across Africa, according to the Export Promotion Center (CEPEX). Most of this opportunity lies in North Africa (about $754 million), followed by West Africa (about $270 million) and East Africa (about $94 million).
TunisianMonitorOnline (NejiMed)
