Guide to Exporting to African Continental Free Trade Area
Guide to Exporting to African Continental Free Trade Area
October 5, 2021
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is the flagship project of the African
Union to realise the aspiration outlined in Agenda 2063, a blueprint for attaining inclusive
and sustainable development across the continent. The AfCFTA will bring together all 54
member states of the African Union covering a market of more than 1.2 billion people and
a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than USD 3.4 trillion.
The main objectives of the AfCFTA are fourfold. It will create a single continental market
for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments, thus
paving the way for accelerating the establishment of the Continental Customs Union. It
will expand intra-African trade through better harmonization and coordination of trade liberalization
and facilitation, as well as instruments across the Regional Economic Communities
(RECs) and Africa. It aims to not only resolve the challenges of multiple and overlapping
memberships but also expedite the regional and continental integration processes.
And last but not least, the AfCFTA is expected to enhance competitiveness at the industry
and enterprise level through exploitation of opportunities for scale production, continental
market access, and better reallocation of resources.