The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is flagship project of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, a blueprint for attaining inclusive and sustainable development across the continent over the next 50 years. It aims to boost intra-African trade by providing a comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade agreement among the State Parties covering trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property rights, competition policy, digital trade, and women and youth in trade.

The main objective of the AfCFTA is to create a single market for goods and services, facilitated by movement of persons, in order to deepen the economic integration of the African continent. More specifically, the State Parties shall progressively eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers, progressively liberalise trade in services, cooperate on investment, intellectual property rights and competition policy, cooperate on all trade-related areas, cooperate on customs matters and the implementation of trade facilitation measures, establish a mechanism for the settlement of disputes concerning their rights and obligations, and establish and maintain an institutional framework for the implementation and administration of the AfCFTA.

The AfCFTA Agreement establishes a Free Trade Area (FTA) which will bring together all 55 member states of the African Union, covering a market of more than 1.3 billion people, including a growing middle class and youth population, and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than US$3.4 trillion. In terms of numbers of participating countries, the AfCFTA will be the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organisation. Eight regional economic communities (RECs) form the building blocks of the AfCFTA.

Estimates from the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) suggest that the AfCFTA has the potential both to boost intra-African trade by 52.3 percent by eliminating import duties, and to double this trade if non-tariff barriers are also reduced. Through the gradual elimination of tariffs and the reduction of barriers to trade in services, Africa’s income is expected to grow by $450 billion by 2035. According to the World Bank, the agreement has the potential to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty, although achieving this potential will depend on putting in place significant policy reforms and trade facilitation measures.

The AfCFTA negotiations take place in phases. In Phase I, protocols on Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, and Dispute Settlement have been concluded. The AfCFTA will see the progressive liberalisation of 97% of intra-Africa tariffs on trade in goods. However, schedules of tariff concessions and rules of origin, which form an integral part of the Protocol on Trade in Goods, are you to be completed.

Phase II of the AfCFTA negotiations covers Investment, Competition and Intellectual Property Rights. These Draft protocols have been adopted by the AU Assembly. These Protocols will, however, have Annexes, which are still to be negotiated. A third phase has been added, which will cover digital trade and women and youth in trade. These negotiations have recently started.

Background

The 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2012, adopted a decision to establish a Continental Free Trade Area by an indicative date of 2017. This deadline was, however, not met. The Summit also endorsed the Action Plan on Boosting Intra-Africa Trade (BIAT) which identifies seven priority action clusters: trade policy, trade facilitation, productive capacity, trade related infrastructure, trade finance, trade information, and factor market integration.

African leaders held an Extraordinary Summit on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) from 17-21 March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda, during which the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA was presented for signature, along with the Kigali Declaration and the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Free Movement of Persons, Right to Residence and Right to Establishment. On that occasion, 44 out of the 55 AU member states signed the consolidated text of the AfCFTA Agreement, 47 signed the Kigali Declaration, and 30 signed the Protocol on Free Movement. To date, only Eritrea has yet to sign the consolidated text of the AfCFTA Agreement.

The legally scrubbed documents, signed on 16 May 2018, are available below:

pdf Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (4.67 MB)

pdf Compiled Annexes to the AfCFTA Agreement (985 KB)

The Agreement entered into force on 30 May 2019 for the 24 countries that had deposited their instruments of ratification with the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson – the designated depositary for this purpose. As at August 2023, 47 countries have both signed and deposited their instruments of AfCFTA ratification with the AUC Chairperson. The State Parties are the AU Member States that have ratified the AfCFTA Agreement or have acceded to it, and for whom this Agreement is in force.

The operational phase of the AfCFTA was launched during the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Niamey, Niger on 7 July 2019. The AfCFTA will be governed by five operational instruments – the Rules of Origin, tariff concessions, online mechanism for monitoring, reporting and elimination of non-tariff barriers, the Pan-African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS), and the African Trade Observatory. The AfCFTA Secretariat will facilitate the efficient conduct of business of the AfCFTA and is charged with various responsibility related to the implementation of the AfCFTA, including the annual budget and work programme. The AfCFTA Secretariat was officially handed over in Accra, Ghana on 17 August 2020.

An Extraordinary Summit of the AU Assembly on the AfCFTA took place virtually on 5 December 2020. The Assembly approved the start of trading under the AfCFTA Agreement as 1 January 2021, although this did not materialise. On 7 October 2022, the AfCFTA Secretariat launched the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) in Accra, marking the commencement of trade under the Agreement for eight (8) participating countries: Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania and Tunisia, representing the five regions of Africa. The GTI is a pilot initiative to test the operational, institutional, legal and trade policy environment under the AfCFTA.

More information can be found in tralac’s guide to the AfCFTA booklet as well as several factsheets and Frequently Asked Questions.

AfCFTA Update, August 2023

The African Continental Free Trade Area: a tralac guide (10th edition, May 2023)

Downloads: English and French

tralac AfCFTA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs, updated May 2023)

Downloads: English and French

Factsheets

• How are AfCFTA legal instruments adopted and how do they enter into force?

• Potential Cross Border Value Chain Involvement infographic

• The Agribusiness Value Chain in Africa infographic

• AfCFTA Institutions infographic

• Simplified Trade Regimes and Women Traders in Africa

• Making the AfCFTA NTB mechanism work for women traders

• Investment and Gender in the AfCFTA

• Gender and Digital Trade in the AfCFTA

• Architecture of the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade

• AfCFTA Tariff Negotiations: Who negotiates with whom?

• How flexible and effective will the AfCFTA be

• What to expect from the AfCFTA Dispute Settlement Mechanism

• The Framework for the Implementation of the AfCFTA

• How will the AfCFTA protect the Rights of Private Parties

• The Obligations to be implemented by the AfCFTA State Parties

• The AfCFTA Agreement’s Annexes that deal with Customs and border management

Ratification status

According to Article 23 of the AfCFTA Agreement, entry into force occurs 30 days after the 22nd instrument of ratification is deposited with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) – the designated depositary for this purpose – an essential step for the AfCFTA to enter into force. The Agreement entered into force on 30 May 2019 for the 24 countries that had deposited their instruments of ratification before this date.

As at August 2023, 47 of the 54 signatories (85%) have deposited their instruments of AfCFTA ratification with the AUC Chairperson.

pdf Official list of signatures and ratifications as at 19 July 2023 (12 KB)

pdf Status of AfCFTA ratification infographic (tralac) (1.09 MB)

View the infographic online

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Rules of Origin and tariff offers

The AfCFTA will see the progressive liberalisation of 97% of intra-Africa tariffs on trade in goods, 7% of which are categorised as covering ‘sensitive products’. These will be liberalised over a longer timeframe. The remaining 3% of tariffs may be excluded from liberalisation for reasons relating to food security, national security, fiscal revenue, livelihood, and industrialisation. Non-Least Developed Countries will liberalise tariffs on non-sensitive goods over a period of 5 years and LDCs over 10 years. As at August 2023, 43 tariff offers on trade in goods have been submitted by individual State Parties (Malawi, Mauritius, and São Tomé and Príncipe) and collectively as part of Customs Unions – CEMAC, EAC, ECOWAS and SACU, 29 of which had been technically verified.

• AfCFTA comparative tariff offer analysis

Rules of origin (the legal provisions that are used to determine the economic nationality of a product in the context of international trade) must also be agreed. Negotiations on tariffs and rules of origin are yet to be completed. Agreed RoO currently cover 87.7% of tariff lines. Trade in goods, for which RoO are finalised, can take place under the tabled tariff offers. These offers must comply with the agreed modalities for tariff negotiations.

• AfCFTA Rules of Origin Manual, Vol. 1, July 2022

Factsheets

• Introduction to the AfCFTA RoO: Key provisions, sectoral approach and outstanding issues

• Interpreting the rules | Key sector outcomes

Guided Trade Initiative (GTI)

While preferential trade under the AfCFTA can only truly begin once negotiations on issues such as tariff concessions and rules of origins are finalised, a ‘pilot phase’ of the AfCFTA was launched in October 2022 in the form of the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI). The primary aim of the GTI is to test the operational, institutional, legal and trade policy environment under the AfCFTA.

Eight (8) State Parties representing the five regions of the continent – Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania and Tunisia – are currently participating in the initiative. The GTI will be expanded in 2023 to include more products and participants, and a similar pilot for trade in services is also planned.

tralac has prepared a special Trade Brief introducing the AfCFTA Secretariat’s Guided Trade Initiative: How will it work and where does trade under AfCFTA rules now stand?

Institutions

The institutional framework for the implementation, administration, facilitation, monitoring and evaluation of the AfCFTA consists of the following:

• Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) – provides oversight and strategic guidance on the AfCFTA, including the Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT).

• Council of Ministers (CoM) – consists of the Ministers for Trade (or other designated Ministers) of the State Parties. The mandate of the Council of Ministers is to take decisions in accordance with the AfCFTA Agreement; ensure effective implementation and enforcement of the Agreement; and take measures necessary for the promotion of the objectives of this Agreement and other instruments relevant to the AfCFTA.

• Committee of Senior Trade Officials – consists of Permanent or Principal Secretaries or other officials designated by each State Party. It shall implement the decisions of the Council of Ministers, be responsible for the development of programmes and action plans, monitor implementation, and ensure proper functioning and development of the AfCFTA. It reports to the Council of Ministers.

• AfCFTA Secretariat – the only permanent institution of the AfCFTA based in Accra, Ghana. Its mandate is to implement instructions of the CoM and provide technical assistance to the State Parties and AfCFTA institutions, as provided in the AfCFTA Agreement.

• Dispute Settlement Mechanism of the AfCFTA – replicates, with the necessary adaptations, the WTO dispute settlement system. The relevant principles and procedures appear in a dedicated Protocol. The Dispute Settlement Mechanism has its own institutions, such as the Appellate Body and the Panels. Only State Parties may bring disputes against other State Parties.

In addition, various technical committees have been established to assist with the implementation of the Agreement. The committees will comprise designated representatives from State Parties.

Legal texts and resources

tralac has followed developments in the AfCFTA negotiations with keen interest. Below is our collection of legal documents and resources, including the text of the AfCFTA Agreement, its Protocols and its Annexes.

• AfCFTA Legal Documents and Resources

  Launch of the negotiations

  The establishment of the AfCFTA and the implementation of the BIAT Action Plan provide a comprehensive framework to pursue a developmental regionalism strategy. The former is conceived as a time bound project, whereas BIAT is continuous with concrete targets to double intra-African trade flows from January 2012 and January 2022.

  • Decision on Boosting Intra-African Trade and Fast Tracking the Continental Free Trade Area

  • Declaration on Boosting Intra-African Trade and The Establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA)

  • Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT): Issues Affecting Intra-African Trade, Proposed Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade and Framework for the fast-tracking of a CFTA

  • Synthesis Paper on BIAT and Fast Tracking the CFTA

  The Continental Task Force (CTF) on the CFTA, which met for the first time in October 2013, is tasked with coordinating actions between the African Union Commission and the Regional Economic Communities to ensure that the CFTA negotiations are conducted within the agreed timelines.

  • Draft objectives and guiding principles for negotiating the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) - 2nd Meeting of the CFTA Continental Task Force (CTF), April 2013

  • Decision to convene a Dedicated Session of Senior Officials to develop a Road Map towards the launch of the CFTA negotiations - 26th AU Executive Council, January 2015

  • Decision on the Report of the High Level African Trade Committee (HATC) on Trade Issues - 24th AU Assembly, January 2015

  • Update on the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and Work Plan for the AU Commission for the Preparatory Phase of the CFTA Negotiations, 2014

  • Decision on the Report of the Extraordinary Session of the AU Conference of Ministers of Trade (CAMOT) - April 2014

  • Decision on the Report of the High Level African Trade Committee (HATC) on Trade Issues - 22nd AU Assembly, January 2014

  Negotiations for the establishment of the CFTA were officially launched in June 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa. H.E Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger, was mandated by the 28th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in January 2017 to champion the process of the CFTA. A Progress Report on the CFTA negotiations was received by the 29th AU Assembly in July 2017.

  • Decision on the Launch of Continental Free Trade Area Negotiations - Johannesburg, June 2015

  • Declaration on the Launch of The Negotiations for the Establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) - Johannesburg, June 2015

  • Draft Framework, Road Map and Architecture For Fast-tracking the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA)

  • Decision to establish a High Level Panel of five eminent persons to champion the fast tracking of the CFTA - 27th AU Assembly, July 2016

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  Launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area

  The fifth meeting of African Union Ministers of Trade (AMOT), held in Kigali, Rwanda on 8-9 March 2018, adopted the legal instruments constituting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), namely (a) the Agreement Establishing the AfCFTA, (b) the Protocol on Trade in Goods, (c) the Protocol on Trade in Services, and (d) the Protocol on Rules and Procedures for the Settlement of Disputes. Legal scrubbing of the documents was concluded during the Ministerial Meeting of the Second Extra-Ordinary Session of the Specialised Technical Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs held on 14 and 15 March.

  African leaders subsequently held an Extraordinary Summit on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) from 17-21 March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda, during which the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA was presented for signature, along with the Kigali Declaration and the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Free Movement of Persons, Right to Residence and Right to Establishment. In total, 44 out of the 55 AU member states signed the consolidated text of the AfCFTA Agreement, 47 signed the Kigali Declaration and 30 signed the Protocol on Free Movement.

  To date, only Eritrea has yet to sign the consolidated text of the AfCFTA Agreement.

  Below are the legal instruments signed at the Summit launching the AfCFTA on 21 March 2018:

  • Indication of legal instruments signed at the 10th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on the Launch of the AfCFTA

  • Kigali Declaration for the launch of the AfCFTA

  • Agreement Establishing the AfCFTA: Consolidated agreed text

  • Agreement Establishing the AfCFTA: Consolidated text (French)

  • Compiled Annexes to the AfCFTA Agreement (French), March 2018

  • Protocol to the Abuja Treaty relating to the Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment, adopted 29 January 2018

  • Protocol to the Abuja Treaty relating to the Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment (French)

  • AU Executive Council Decision on the Draft AfCFTA Agreement, 19 March 2018

  • AU Assembly Decision on the Draft AfCFTA Agreement, 21 March 2018

  • Agreement Establishing the AfCFTA: Kigali Draft text (consolidated), March 2018

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  Launch of the operational phase

  The operational phase of the AfCFTA was launched during the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on the AfCFTA in Niamey, Niger on 7 July 2019. In addition to the Niamey Declaration on the Launch of the Operational Phase of the AfCFTA – the key outcome – the following Decisions were adopted by the Assembly: (i) on hosting of the Secretariat of the AfCFTA by Ghana; and (ii) on the successful hosting of the 12th Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly and the First Mid-Year Coordination Meeting between the AU and the RECs.

  12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on the AfCFTA: Decisions and Declaration - July 2019

  The first meeting of the AfCFTA Council of Ministers responsible for trade took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 24-25 October 2019. The 2nd Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the AfCFTA was subsequently held on 15 December 2019 in Accra, Ghana. The 33rd Ordinary AU Assembly held from 9-10 February 2020 in Addis Ababa, approved the recommendations of Council of Ministers to have an Extraordinary Summit on 30 May 2020 to approve all instruments required for the start of trading under the AfCFTA on 1 July 2020. This deadline was, however, missed as the world grappled with the health and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  AU Assembly Decision on the AfCFTA - February 2020

  H.E. Mr. Wamkele Mene was officially appointed the first Secretary General of the Secretariat on 19 March 2020. It is envisaged that the Secretariat will provide administrative support for the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement. The official handover of the AfCFTA Secretariat took place on 17 October 2020.

  During Preparatory Meetings for Commencement of Trading under the AfCFTA held from 16-20 November 2020, AU Head of State and Government urged Member States to prepare national strategies for utilising and benefiting from the AfCFTA. They also discussed the operationalisation of the customs provisions in the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA; the Protocol on Trade in Goods and related annexes as well as the instruments that have been agreed so far.

  Statement by H.E. Wamkele Mene, AfCFTA Secretary General, to the Council of Ministers Responsible for Trade

  A virtual meeting of the 13th Extra Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (on the AfCFTA), held on Saturday, 5 December, 2020, under the Chairmanship of H.E. Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, underscored the urgent need for member states to kick-start trading activities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which will commence on the 1st of January 2021.

  • Report submitted to the 13th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on the AfCFTA by H.E. Issoufou Mahamadou

  • Thirteenth Extraordinary Session (on the AfCFTA): Decision and Declaration

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  Negotiations on technical issues

  The CFTA Negotiating Forum (CFTA-NF) has held several meetings towards the finalisation of the draft modalities for negotiations on both tariff liberalisation and trade in services. Four meetings of the CFTA Technical Working Groups were held in 2017: in February (Kigali), April (Nairobi), August (Durban) and November (Abuja), giving trade experts the opportunity to provide technical inputs in the draft CFTA texts. The 8th Negotiating Forum arrived at three outcomes on the CFTA: Framework Agreement on the CFTA, Protocol on Goods, and Protocol on Trade in Services and a built-in agenda. The three documents were formally approved and adopted by African Trade Ministers in Niamey, Niger in December 2017.

  Summary update on the outcomes of the Third Meeting of the CFTA Technical Working Groups - Durban, September 2017

  Following the submission of tariff concession schedules for trade in goods by each State Party (including the particular 90 percent of products that are to be liberalised, list of sensitive products requiring an extended time period for liberalisation, and list of excluded products that are to be temporarily exempted from liberalisation), initial market access offers on trade in services, and development of a list of product-specific rules of origin (part of the built-in agenda), the AfCFTA will then enter into force after the deposit of the 22nd instrument of ratification with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

  On 11-12 January 2019, the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Specialised Technical Committee of the Ministers of Trade, Industry and Mineral Resources met to discuss The Entry into Force of the Agreement Establishing the AfCFTA and its Implementation. Among other things, Ministers:

  • reaffirmed their commitment to the completion of all outstanding phases of the AfCFTA negotiations, and the upgrading and diversification of our economies’ productive capacities through increased value addition and transformation of raw materials as well as the development of a competitive services sector, so as to increase Africa’s competitive position in the global economy.

  • urged the African Union Commission together with AU Member States to work with technical partners to engage all key stakeholders such as Parliament, civil society and private sector to build a constituency of support for the AfCFTA for enhanced ownership and inclusiveness, to enhance prospects for unhindered implementation of the Agreement.

  • urged Member states to build and strengthen the capacity of all strategic institutions involved in industry and trade governance to enhance efficiency in the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement.

  Final Declaration of the 2nd Ordinary Session of the STC of the Ministers of Trade, Industry and Mineral Resources - January 2019

  The AU Assembly adopted the Guidelines for Development of Schedules of Specific Commitments and Regulatory Cooperation Framework for Trade in Services and the new Roadmap for finalisation of AfCFTA Negotiations with a new deadline of June 2020, and requested H.E. Mahamadou to submit a progress report to the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union on the AfCFTA in Niamey, Niger on 7 July 2019.

  Furthermore, the Assembly requested the African Union Ministers of Trade to:

  1. submit the Schedules of Tariff Concessions and Schedules of Specific Commitments on Trade in Services, in line with agreed modalities, to the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly in July 2019 and the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly in February 2020, respectively, for adoption; and

  2. conclude the negotiations on the Protocols on Investment, Competition Policy and Intellectual Property Rights, Trade in Services on the other seven (7) sectors beyond the five (5) priority service sectors, and submit the draft legal texts to the January 2021 Session of the Assembly for adoption, through the Specialised Technical Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.

  During the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Addis Ababa in February 2019, H.E. Mr. Issoufou Mahamadou, President of the Republic of Niger and Leader of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), presented a report on the status and progress made in the AfCFTA negotiations the Road Map for Finalisation of Outstanding Work on Phase 1 and Conclusion of Phase II Negotiations; and Draft Guidelines for Services Negotiations under the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Services.

  • Report on the AfCFTA by Mahamadou Issoufou with Annexes - February 2019

  • AU Assembly Decision on the African Union Continental Free Trade Area - February 2019

  At the 10th Meeting of AfCFTA African Ministers of Trade (AMOT) in December 2019, the AUC was directed to organise a series of technical meetings of AfCFTA negotiating institutions from 10 February to 10 May 2020, and to come up with a detailed, sequenced and realistic work-plan. In addition, AMOT, among other things:

  • directed that the outstanding issues on RoO be concluded as soon as possible to facilitate the finalisation of tariff offers, and that a workshop of Chief Negotiators, RoO Experts, and the Private sector be convened by February 2020 to consider the policy notes

  • directed that Member States submit their initial offers for trade in services at the latest as agreed by 31st January 2020

  • approved the recommendations to establish TWGs on Investment, Competition Policy and Intellectual Property Rights

  • directed the AUC to develop a brief on e-Commerce and present it to Member States for consideration

  • directed that work on development of AfCFTA long term adjustment facilities be undertaken by NF on the basis of the feasibility study and building on the seed capital provided by Afreximbank

  • adopted the declaration on WTO issues as proposed, and mandated the AU Group of Ambassadors in Geneva to come up with an African position on Reforms of the WTO System.

  Final report of the 10th Meeting of AfCFTA AMOT - December 2019

  The 8th Meeting of the AfCFTA Council of Ministers Responsible for Trade was convened in Accra, Ghana on 28-29 January 2022. Ministers assessed the status of negotiations on outstanding issues and steps required to move towards the start of commercially meaningful trading under the AfCFTA.

  8th Meeting of the AfCFTA Council of Ministers: Press Release - 29 January 2022

  The 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 5-6 February 2022. The Assembly adopted a comprehensive set of Decisions on the AfCFTA, noting the following with regards to the status of negotiations:

  • 43 tariff offers on trade in goods had been submitted by individual State Parties and collectively as part of Customs Unions - CEMAC, EAC, ECOWAS and SACU, 29 of which had been technically verified.

  • Agreement on Rules of Origin covering 87.7% of agreed tariff lines.

  • On trade in services, offers on schedules of Specific Commitments had been submitted by 46 State and non-State Parties.

  A set of Decisions covering the Dispute Settlement Mechanism, Phase II negotiations, the AfCFTA Implementation tools, and Collaboration with Strategic Partners, among others, were also adopted.

  AU Assembly Decisions on the AfCFTA - February 2022

  At the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, held from 18-19 February 2023 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Assembly adopted the Phase II Protocols on Competition Policy, Investment, and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

  • AU Assembly Decision on Draft Legal Instruments - February 2023

  • AU Assembly Decision on the report of HE Issoufou Mahamadou on the AfCFTA - February 2023

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  Launch of the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI)

  The Ministerial Directive of the 7th Meeting of the AfCFTA Council of Ministers responsible for Trade, on 10 October 2021, provided a legal basis for the countries that had submitted their tariff schedules, in accordance with the agreed modalities, to trade preferentially amongst themselves. While preferential trade under the AfCFTA can only truly begin once negotiations on issues such as tariff concessions and rules of origins are finalised, a ‘pilot phase’ of the AfCFTA was launched in October 2022 in the form of the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI). The primary aim of the GTI is to test the operational, institutional, legal and trade policy environment under the AfCFTA.

  The AfCFTA GTI will serve as a gateway to encourage continued trade under the AfCFTA and create increased opportunities for SMEs and Youth and Women in trade, in turn promoting sustainable and inclusive economic development. The objectives are to:

  • test the operational, institutional, legal and trade policy environment under the AfCFTA;

  • allow commercially meaningful trading under the AfCFTA; and

  • send a positive message to African economic operators about the AfCFTA.

  The ultimate objective of the initiative is to ensure that the AfCFTA can be fully operational and implemented by State Parties in order to achieve increased interregional and intra-Africa trade.

  Furthermore, the GTI aims to achieve four objectives:

  1. Demonstrate the efficiency of the legal framework of the AfCFTA instruments;

  2. Obtain feedback on the effectiveness of the legal and institutional national systems in the participating countries;

  3. Test the readiness of the private sector to participate in trade under the AfCFTA; and

  4. Identify possible future interventions to increase intra-African trade and maximise the benefits of the AfCFTA.

  Eight (8) State Parties are currently participating in the initiative: Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania and Tunisia. Others, who have had their Provisional Schedules of Tariff Concessions verified, may join at a later stage. The interested State Parties represent 5 African regions.

  The 96 products earmarked to trade under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative include: ceramic tiles, tea, coffee, processed meat products, corn starch, sugar, pasta, glucose syrup, dried fruits, and sisal fibre, amongst others, in line with the AfCFTA focus on value chain development. A Committee has been established to coordinate and operationalise trade transactions, and Ad Hoc Committees have been established in the participating State Parties. It is expected that a GTI for Trade in Services will be launched too.

  • AfCFTA Application of Provisional Schedules of Tariff Concessions: Ministerial Directive 1/2021

• tralac Resources

  tralac has been monitoring the AfCFTA negotiations with keen interest. Several papers, briefs and blogs have been published to encourage debate and inform government officials, policymakers, and interested stakeholders on key issues involved in the negotiation of Africa’s own mega-regional trade agreement. A list of related outputs is available below.

  Blogs

  The tralac Blog offers a forum for the views of tralac researchers and Associates, as well as guest contributors, on issues pertaining, among other things, to the AfCFTA, the negotiation of its legal instruments, and practical implications for African governments and private parties, in order to encourage discussion and debate.

  Can reducing Non-Tariff Trade Costs in Africa be the gamechanger for the African Continental Free Trade Area? by Taku Fundira – 28 Mar 2023

  With the SACU tariff offer in the bag, what happens next to AfCFTA trade? by Gerhard Erasmus and Trudi Hartzenberg – 08 Mar 2023

  Trade Facilitation and institutional arrangements under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement by Rwatida Mafurutu – 03 Jul 2021

  The Relationship between Investment and Mode Three of Trade in Services – implications for the AfCFTA negotiations by Gerhard Erasmus and Trudi Hartzenberg – 23 Mar 2021

  South Africa’s implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement: customs arrangements and technicalities by Willemien Viljoen 10 Feb 2021

  Preferential trade with Mauritius: market access for the UK, China, and state parties of the AfCFTA by Willemien Viljoen –10 Feb 2021

  Speculating about Phase II of the AfCFTA Negotiations by Gerhard Erasmus and Trudi Hartzenberg – 10 Feb 2021

  AfCFTA Phase II and III Negotiations – Update by Talkmore Chidede – 10 Feb 2021

  AfCFTA Parallelism and the Acquis by Gerhard Erasmus – 10 Feb 2021

  Preparing for the start of trade under the AfCFTA: Could Medicines be included? by Gerhard Erasmus – 11 Dec 2020

  The AfCFTA creates an additional African Free Trade Area by Gerhard Erasmus and Trudi Hartzenberg – 28 July 2020

  Use of Electronic Certificates of Origin now and beyond COVID-19 in intra-African Trade by Rwatida Mafurutu - 29 Jun 2020

  An Agenda for the AfCFTA Protocol on E-Commerce by Ify Ogo – 25 Jun 2020

  View all Blogs.
  

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  Publications

  tralac has prepared several Trade Briefs, Working Papers and Trade Reports on legal and practical issues related to the negotiation and signing of the Agreement Establishing the AfCFTA. Recent Publications are listed below.

  The Potential of the Agribusiness Regional Value Chain under the AfCFTA - 22 Dec 2022

  Benefitting from the AfCFTA: The Case of Mauritius - 22 Dec 2022

  The AfCFTA design will determine how it will function and evolve - 29 Nov 2022

  How the AfCFTA began and evolved - 28 Nov 2022

  The Digital Economy Opportunity for the AfCFTA - 28 Apr 2022

  Does the AfCFTA provide for a new Approach to Regional Integration in Africa? - 21 Feb 2022

  Will Trade Remedies be used as part of Trade Governance under the AfCFTA? - 21 Feb 2022

  Africa and the adoption of HS2022: Implementation update, impact and consequences in the context of AfCFTA - 01 Feb 2022

  Customs cooperation in facilitating intra-African trade - 20 Dec 2022

  Should the RECs disappear in order to have the AfCFTA? - 21 Nov 2021

  Agricultural Issues in the African Continental Free Trade Area - 30 Jul 2021

  Can the AfCFTA evolve into a New Generation Partnership for Africa? - 30 Jul 2021

  The Framework for the Implementation of the AfCFTA - 30 Jul 2021

  Resilience in African Economies: What Governments could do and the AfCFTA could contribute - 20 Jul 2021

  Gender Provisions in African Trade Agreements: An Assessment of the Commitments for Reconciling Women’s Empowerment and Global Trade - 19 Jul 2021

  View all Publications.

• Other useful resources

  Partnering with governments by business is essential to ensure and facilitate investment in the accompanying measures necessary to complement the AfCFTA. This includes intra-African trade infrastructure as well as supplying trade finance, trade information, and logistics services. Such provisions will help businesses recognise and realise the trading opportunities available through AfCFTA. In this context, UNECA’s African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) has stated that:

  “the AfCFTA will realise its potential to the full only if Africans, and particularly the African business community, understand, own and take advantage of it.”

  pdf AfCFTA: What you need to know - Frequently Asked Questions and Answers, Issue 1: March 2023 (2.12 MB)

  Below is a selection of resources prepared and developed by various stakeholders and interested parties in the AfCFTA negotiations.

  pdf Powering trade through AfCFTA: a People driven wholesome Development Agenda (175 KB) - African Union, February 2023

  pdf LRS Briefing on the AfCFTA Agreement: Trade Unions and Trade (861 KB) - First edition, 2023

  pdf ITUC Africa Continental Forum on the AfCFTA: Tunis Statement (89 KB) - September 2022

  pdf AfCFTA Country Business Index Report: Executive Summary (363 KB) - April 2022

  pdf Primer for the AfCFTA Country Business Index (ACBI) (1.51 MB) - February 2022

  pdf Policy Brief on the African Continental Free Trade Area (390 KB) : UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) - January 2022

  pdf The Futures Report 2021: Which Value Chains for a Made in Africa Revolution (12.88 MB) - AfCFTA Secretariat and UNDP

  pdf Conditions for success in the implementation of the AfCFTA (6.86 MB) : Work commissioned by the AUDA-NEPAD - January 2020

  pdf Conditions for success in the implementation of the AfCFTA (French) (5.82 MB) - January 2020

  pdf 2019 African Regional Integration Report: Voices of the RECs (3.12 MB) - AUC

  pdf The AfCFTA: Opportunities and Challenges (1.15 MB) - CUTS International Study by Théophile Albert, 2019

  pdf Assessing Regional Integration in Africa IX: Next steps for the African Continental Free Trade Area (4.43 MB) - UNECA-AUC-AfDB-UNCTAD, July 2019