Globe and Mail, July 19, 2018, Johannesburg

As Canada moves to diversify its trade away from traditional U.S. markets, there are signs that a
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau created a refocused and renamed Department of International Trade Diversification in his cabinet shuffle on Wednesday, with Manitoba MP Jim Carr as its minister. The department is expected to focus on Asian and Latin American markets to supplement the increasingly difficult U.S. market, but Africa is likely to be another potential target.
African markets could prove attractive to Canadian exporters in industries such as agriculture, health sciences and environmental technology, analysts say.
The African free-trade zone would include 55 countries – more than any other trade agreement since the formation of the World Trade Organization – with a total population of 1.2 billion people and a combined economy of US$3.4-trillion.
The continental agreement is expected to win enough ratifications to take effect by January, although it could take another year or two for negotiators to resolve technical questions such as “rules-of-origin” issues.
Canada has helped to provide financing for free-trade research in Africa, and Canadian government officials have already begun talking with African officials to consider ways of working with the new African trade bloc, according to a knowledgeable official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were confidential.