Centre for African Foreign Policy & Global Governance
The AfCFTA at Five: From Agreement to Implementation
The African Continental Free Trade Area is signed and ratified. The hard work — rules of origin, payments and infrastructure — is just beginning.
The AfCFTA is the largest free-trade area in the world by membership. Five years on, the centre of gravity has shifted from negotiation to the unglamorous machinery of implementation.
The implementation agenda
Harmonised rules of origin, a functioning continental payments system and the closing of infrastructure gaps will determine whether the agreement delivers on its promise of intra-African trade.