South Africa became the fourth African country to ratify the African Tripartite Freetrade Area (TFTA) agreement after Egypt, Uganda, and Kenya, Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern Southern Africa (COMESA) Chileshe Kapwepwe said. The TFTA is a multilateral freetrade agreement first signed in 2015 b member states of the COMESA, Southern African Development Community, and East African Community. The TFTA must be ratified at least 14 of the 23 signatories to take effect.