When trading under the ambitious African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) commenced on 1 January 2021, trade remedies certainly did not exercise the mind of anyone involved. Trade remedies are not even mentioned in the main body of the Agreement. Their first mention is in Part V of the Protocol on Trade in Goods where they are covered in four short articles. If the numbers of the Annexes to the Protocol are an indication of importance, trade remedies find themselves at the bottom of the pile at number 9. The place may not be wholly undeserved in view of the fact that not many African countries have functioning trade remedy regimes. (Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco and South Africa count among the latter. Kenya joined in 2017 with its Kenya Trade Remedies Act. According to reports, Nigeria signed an agreement with a firm of United States lawyers in 2018 to assist it in drafting new trade remedy legislation to bolster the current struggling system.)

In summary form, Part V of the Protocol on Trade in Goods allows state parties to apply anti-dumping and countervailing measures, global safeguard measures and preferential safeguard measures; in doing so they must follow the guide of Annex 9 on Trade Remedies and the applicable AfCFTA Guidelines on Implementation of Trade Remedies and WTO Agreements; and they must co-operate on trade remedies according to Annex 9 and the AfCFTA Guidelines.

Readers are encouraged to quote and reproduce this material for educational, non-profit purposes, provided the source is acknowledged. All views and opinions expressed remain solely those of the author and do not purport to reflect the views of tralac.