Africa signs largest trade deal since WTO

KIGALI, Rwanda — African leaders signed what is being called the largest free-trade agreement since the creation of the World Trade Organization.

The deal creates a continental market of 1.2 billion people, with a combined gross domestic product of more than $3.4 trillion. A major goal is to boost intra-African trade and rely less on the volatility of commodity prices that affect many exports.

The aim is to have the agreement, signed by 44 of the African Union’s 55 member states, enter into force by the end of this year, said the chair of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.

States now must ratify the deal, but the number of countries needed to put the agreement into force has not yet been agreed.

Concerns remain. The president of Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies, skipped the summit amid trade unions’ objections.