This archive report was first published on 21 August 2019.
Published on August 21, 2019, the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) aimed to create a single African market, making Africa the largest free trade area in the world.
However, recent reports indicate that the trade has not met its 2018 target of 17%, based on a 2015 baseline mark of 14.6%.
The low intra-continental trade could be attributed to lack of financing, non-tariff barriers, and inadequate infrastructure.
Additionally, low manufacturing levels in some countries mean they do not produce significant amounts of goods for export.
Experts agree that sufficient mobilization of political goodwill is needed to counter these challenges, while also protecting the interests of small-scale traders, particularly artisan traders and businesswomen in cross-border trade.
AfCFTA's scope includes trade in goods, services, investment, intellectual property rights, and e-commerce.
