Policy Forum 

# Pan-African Free Trade Agreement: Helping Africa through Free Trade 

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[ 

Audio 

](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2006/cpfa-10-20-06.mp3) 

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Date and Time 

October 20, 2006 12 - 2 PM EDT 

Location 

Auditorium/Wintergarden 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **Andrew Mitchell,** Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Great Britain; with comments by **Richard Tren,** Director, Africa Fighting Malaria; and **Marian Tupy,** Policy Analyst, Cato Institute. 

Africa is one of the most protectionist regions in the world. Most imports, including life-saving drugs and medical equipment, continue to be subjected to high tariff and nontariff barriers. Moreover, African countries impose some of their highest tariffs on goods from other African countries. African trade liberalization could increase intra-African trade by 54 percent. It is hypocritical for African leaders to call for greater access to global markets while rejecting trade openness at home. Andrew Mitchell will explain why African governments should support a Pan-African Free Trade Agreement if they are truly serious about the benefits of trade liberalization.

[PDF of speech “A Pan-African Trading Area”](/events/pdfs/pan_african_freetrade.pdf)

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