Egypt is a member of the GAFTA, a free trade area that consists of 14 members spanning North Africa and the Middle East. While it is not an African regional economic community, Egypt’s GAFTA membership means that it is already trading under a free trade agreement with Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco and Sudan.

17 of the 21 existing COMESA members are party to the COMESA Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and will continue to trade under these rules with the implementation of the AfCFTA.

New preferential trading opportunities for Egypt under the AfCFTA will include nonGAFTA and non-COMESA-FTA member states. This is a substantial improvement in continental market access, with new preferential access to 34 African markets