African Continental Free Trade Area — What Does This Mean For Doing Business in Africa?
As African Union members state gathers in the city of Kigali, Rwanda to sign a pact(AfCFTA) that will form the largest single market in the world.
As far back as January 2012, Heads of state and the principals of the African Union adopted a decision to establish a Continental Free Trade Area by an indicative date of 2017. 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.
The Free Trade Area is one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063 and aims to deepen the integration process, by allowing Africans to trade and move freely across the continent.
With about 35 countries signing this agreement form the beginning excluding the most populous country in Sub-Saharan Africa; this will create the largest single market globally, what does this mean for African businesses and the concept of ‘Doing Business in Africa’
The establishment of the CFTA and the implementation of the Action Plan on Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT) 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. It is therefore imperative that at each level, Member States, RECs, and the AUC efforts are undertaken to implement the Action Plan on Boosting Intra African Trade.
Originally published at www.africabusinessradio.com.
