Economic 'game changer'? African leaders launch historic free-trade zone

The summit will see heads of state and trade delegations trying to iron out the details of the trade pact

A landmark free-trade agreement removing most tariffs and other commercial barriers in the African continent expanded to encompass 54 signatories, after Benin and Nigeria joined the accord on Sunday.

Albert Muchanga, the African Union’s commissioner for trade and industry, announced Benin’s intention to join at the bloc’s summit officially launching the pact, in Niger’s capital Niamey. Nigeria said it would ratify the deal during the two-day summit that’s also set to discuss migration and security -- issues affecting the host country Niger. 

“Nigeria is Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country,” Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou said in an interview from Niamey. “Without