ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement can help African economies better withstand the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, an expert has said.

"The COVID-19 tremor to commodity-dependent African economies has incalculable bearings," Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, professor of public policy at Addis Ababa University, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The pandemic has resulted in a sharp drop in trade and investment in African economies, and a demand slump associated with lockdowns in Asian countries as well as members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, noted Costantinos, also former economic advisor to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

It has also led to a supply shock across Africa, which has seriously impacted the continent's overall economy, he added.

"Effective implementation of the newly minted continental free trade area can strengthen regional value chains, reduce susceptibility to external shocks, revolutionize the digital transition, and build buoyancy against imminent catastrophes," he said.

The AfCFTA agreement entered into force on May 30, 2019, a year and one month after it was signed. According to the UN, the agreement has the potential to boost intra-Africa trade by more than 52 percent as of 2022.

Trading under the AfCFTA began on Jan. 1, 2021 following a postponement last year due to the pandemic. The agreement has been signed by 54 out of the 55 members, leaving Eritrea as the sole outsider to date.

Meanwhile, Costantinos said that "Africa and the rest of the world can learn from recent China's experience in economic revitalization in many ways."

"Despite the grim assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic tremor, China is one of the very few countries to have its economy grow in 2020 by 2.3 percent," he noted, adding that China's elimination of absolute poverty is a plus for its economy.