Africa’s Free Trade Ambition Faces a Test at the Border

Africa’s free trade ambition faces a test at the border

The African Continental Free Trade Area represents one of the most ambitious economic integration projects attempted anywhere in the world. Designed to create a single African market for goods and services, the agreement promises to reduce trade barriers, strengthen regional supply chains and make it easier for African businesses to sell across national borders. But the ultimate success of continental free trade may depend less on Africa’s large…

How Africa’s free trade network leaves smaller traders behind

The African Continental Free Trade Area is the African Union’s attempt to create a single continental market for goods and services. Signed in 2018 and operational for trading purposes from January 2021, the agreement now covers a prospective market of 1.4 billion people and about $3.4 trillion in combined gross domestic product. To date, 50 African countries have ratified the agreement, leaving only Eritrea outside the agreement. Yet the quixot…