scholarly journals Understanding the African Continental Free Trade Area: Beyond “Single Market” to “Africa’s Rejuvenation” Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. p84
Author(s):  
Dr. Kaze Armel
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Trade Measures

While global trends continue to move from integration towards heightened protectionism, and retaliatory trade measures, African countries improved their intra-regional trade levels and deepened their regional integration by launching the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA seeks to deepen Africa’s market integration at regional and continental levels; smash down tariff barriers within Africa; boost intra-Africa trade; promote regional and continental value chains; and hopefully deliver Africa’s rejuvenation. However, Africa as a continent is facing many challenges, especially its notions and concepts of development, plus the complications caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, questions are being aroused on whether African policy makers are prepared enough to overcome the AfCFTA related challenges. This article examines the mechanisms needed to fully implement the recently signed continental free trade area deal, its impact on Africa’s Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and what’s in it for Africa’s major economic partners. In this article, the author will also point out existing daunting challenges and give a series of policy recommendations.

scholarly journals Eliminating ‘Thick’ Borders: Analysing the Legal Framework on Non-Tariff Barriers in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-194
Author(s):  
Catherine Penda
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Global Marketplace ◽  
Trade Area

African countries have long recognised that regional integration is vital if Africa is to optimise its growth potential and boost its bargaining power in the global marketplace. This explains the proliferation of several Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) across the continent culminating in the conclusion of the landmark African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). However, despite the concerted efforts to boost intra-trade among African countries, African borders remain ‘thick’ because of the continued existence of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) that reverse gains made from initiatives of trade liberalisation. Accordingly, if the landmark Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is to be successful, it must strive to address and eliminate Africa’s NTBs. It is argued in this paper that while the AfCFTA makes some important strides in reducing NTBs in intra-African trade, there are still some significant gaps in the AfCFTA’s provisions on NTBs that need to be addressed. Some of these gaps include: the lack of a comprehensive legal framework that adequately addresses all the categories of NTBs and the lack of clear guidelines on how to promote harmonisation among conflicting measures among RTAs. This article singles out and analyses provisions on NTBs under the AfCFTA with the aim of determining whether the AfCFTA addresses the challenges currently facing other RTAs in tackling NTBs. The author will identify shortcomings in the legal framework of the AfCFTA with the aim of making proposals to address them.

scholarly journals A Solution for Africa

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Collins
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Majority Voting ◽  
Regional Environment ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The Eu

Regionalism—the efforts of a group of nations to enhance their economic, political, social, and cultural interaction—can assume various forms, including regional integration/cooperation, market integration, development integration, with the intent of accommodating the changing national, international, and regional environment. Despite the fact that to this day, attempts at integration (in particular, market integration based on the EU model) and regionalist impulses as they currently occur have been entirely unproductive throughout the African continent, regionalism continues to be regarded by African leaders as a reasonable strategy for increasing intra-regional trade and for reversing Africa’s rising marginalization in the world economy. They continue to be assured by the success of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the viability of the European Union’s (EU) model for integration, which begins with a free trade area or preferential trade area and ends with complete economic integration. The EU model features a specific mode of decision making (qualified majority voting), conflict resolution mechanism (role of the European Court of Justice), budgetary arrangements (revenue collection and distribution), and citizen involvement (direct elections to the European Parliament) and takes on increasingly state-like functions. While extremely successful in integrating its constituent member state in Europe, as a model it is limited, given the unique circumstances under which it was established and promoted. As noted by Emil Kirchner: Consideration of the EU as a model for other regional integration settings might be limited, given the unique circumstances in which it was established and promoted. Born out of conflict, the EU benefited from special circumstances in its development, e.g. the Cold War, the United States guarantee and nurturing role, and the industrialised nature of the European economies, which are not found elsewhere.

Indonesian Visions of Regionalism: From Yudhoyono to Jokowi

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Rüland
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Leadership Frame ◽  
Interpretive Frame ◽  
European Regional

With the “leadership frame,” the chapter unearths a new interpretive frame of the Charter from 2009 onward, suggesting a gradual return of extant ideas of Indonesian foreign policymaking. The chapter also scrutinizes the internalization of the new EU-inspired ideas of regionalism. The litmus tests were events in which the territorial and economic sovereignty of Indonesia was challenged, such as the disputes with Malaysia over maritime borders and the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area. The response to these events showed that most stakeholders except civil society threw overboard many of the liberal-cosmopolitan values associated with European regional integration. Last, the chapter examines whether this ideational reversal continued under the Jokowi government and suggests that the latter did not abruptly break with the foreign policy of his predecessor. Many of the seemingly new Jokowi policies had their roots in the second term of the Yudhoyono presidency.

Advancing Regional Integration in Africa through the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA)

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. A. Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
African Union ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World

AbstractThe past decade and a half of the new millennium has ushered in dramatic changes to the architecture of world trade creating both opportunities and challenges for Africa’s development. The paper is critical of the recent paper of the World Bank that resuscitates the approach to trade liberalization and regional integration propagated by the Washington Consensus. The paper argues that African countries should adopt a “development integration” approach to regional integration that seeks to combine trade liberalization, industrial development and infrastructure development. The paper urges the World Bank and Africa’s trading partners from the north and south, such as the EU, the US and China, to work closely with the African Union to advance the negotiations and implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and the African Union Agenda 2063.

scholarly journals Integration associations for Sub-Saharan Africa: history and prospects for development

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (28-29) ◽  
pp. 52-62
Author(s):  
Mariia Kravchenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Unity ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Eastern And Southern Africa

The article deals with the main integration associations of such a promising but controversial region, as Sub-Saharan Africa. The author emphasizes the continuity of regional integration associations’ formation that goes back to the colonial times, to the first half of the 20th century. Periodization of ongoing integration processes in Sub-Saharan Africa is proposed in the research. Key milestones for the further regional integration were: - 1963, the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU); and the beginning of Independence for many postcolonial countries of Sub-Saharan Africa; - 1980, the Lagos Plan of Action adoption that led to the establishment in future of the following integration associations for Sub-Saharan Africa: ECOWAS, Economic Community of West African States; COMESA, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa; ECCAS, Economic Community of Central African States; - 1991, the signing of the Abuja Treaty, which called for the African Economic Community creation as the new stage for economic cooperation and integration of the continent, including Sub-Saharan Africa; - 1999-2002, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) transition into the African Union (AU), launching of new partnerships and integration associations for Sub-Saharan Africa, increased integration. At the beginning of the 21st century, there are serious economic and political factors for disintegration in the region. Nevertheless, the following integration associations, as stated in the article, proved to be effective: SADC, Southern African Development Community; EAC, East African Community; COMESA, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. The author argues that the existence since 2015 the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) between EAC, COMESA and SADC marks a significant step forward for strengthening of integration associations for Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as for the achievement of African Union’s purpose to provide the African Continental Free Trade Area.

scholarly journals African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement and the Mega-Regional Trade Agreements (MRTAs): what are the underlying challenges and prospects for Africa-South-South trade?

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 413-432
Author(s):  
Anayochukwu Basil Chukwu ◽  
Tobechi Agbanike ◽  
Lasbrey Anochiwa
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Global Trade ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Trade Share ◽  
Almost All

This study examines the possible challenges and prospects of the recent signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement on South-South trade. The recent ratification of the agreement by the African Union (AU) Heads of Government and the establishment of the mega-regional trade agreements (MRTAs) by the major global trading economies are the biggest since the establishment of the WTO. One of these regional and continental agreements' principal objectives is to further strengthen trade terms and balance of trade statistics between member nations. Whereas almost all the regional and continental blocs have to a large extent, achieved the purpose of their trade agreements, Africa stands out as the only region whose intra-trade value still constitutes less than 15% of global trade share. Many reasons have been adduced to be responsible for the weak trade performance, one of which is weak regional integration. This study, therefore, concludes that for Africa to achieve significant improvement in global trade, the region needs to encourage regional trade, which will act as a catalyst for transforming the domestic economies and lay a robust foundation for healthy regional competition and integration

scholarly journals IMPACT OF AFRICAN FREE TRADE POLICY (AGREEMENT) ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chika P. Imoagwu ◽  
Joan N. Ozoh ◽  
Chinwe M. Madueke ◽  
Chidinma C. Mbah
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Growth Strategy ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The World

The signing of the agreement that established the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in the year 2019 is believed to be an African-based growth strategy that is self-reliant and is expected to be the world’s largest free trade area after the World Trade Organization (WTO). The agreement is an attestation to the fact that African countries cannot continue to rely solely on the global trading system and global economy of the world economic powers, probably because they are increasingly becoming unpredictable. However, there is an assumption that the aggregate consumer and business spending on the continent could rise if AfCFTA is implemented successfully. This assumption therefore calls for a research like this to evaluate the likely economic impacts of the free trade agreement on different African countries particularly Nigeria which is the giant of Africa and the focus of this study. To achieve the objectives of the study, descriptive statistical approach was utilized to examine how the AfCFTA could contribute particularly on poverty reduction and Nigeria has been struggling for many decades to reduce poverty. These variables were considered: household income, illiteracy level, unemployment level and access to health care. The results of the analyses revealed that the AfCFTA could be slightly beneficial to Nigeria as it would improve the efficiency of the factors of production and product markets thereby enhancing household income generation, reducing the level of illiteracy, unemployment and increasing access to good health, efficient resource allocation and improved industry competitiveness which was expected to help Nigeria record significant reduction in poverty level and increase in economic development. In the light of these findings, the study recommends that government should then design proactive strategies that would reap the full benefits of AfCFTA such as engaging the private sector in identifying receptive and risk surrounding their sectors and paying more attention to the development of the service sector etc. The study has potential limitations such as unavailability of recent data. To tackle this limitation, the study adopted the 2019 survey data on pillars of measuring human development index by World Bank to address the quality of the findings, and research question. JEL: F10, H13, O10 <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0779/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

THE ROLE OF SADC IN BOOSTING DOMESTIC, REGIONAL, CONTINENTAL AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-98
Author(s):  
Ghazala Begum Essop
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Trade Area

The role of regional economic communities in the development of trade in Africa is widely recognised. Currently, intra-African trade stands at 10 per cent. This is in sharp contrast to other developing regions of the world. In Asia and Latin America, the levels of intra-trade are 50 and 26 per cent, respectively. There are a number of reasons accounting for the low level of intra-African trade, including the weak mandate given to regional economic communities to monitor and enforce the commitments assumed by countries under regional trade agreements. The lack of integration has negatively impacted on African countries and affected their ability to attract foreign direct investment commensurate with their development needs. Had African countries been less exposed to external markets, they would have been minimally affected by the global financial crisis. The importance of boosting intra-African trade was highlighted by Africa’s Heads of State and Government when they devoted this year’s summit to this theme. In the run-up to the summit, the African Union Commission released a study that underscored the importance of regional economic communities in the process of economic integration in Africa. Currently, SADC member states are in the process of implementing the SADC Trade Protocol, which would create a fully-fledged free trade area and later a customs union, and at the same time engaged in tripartite negotiations aimed at merging the three (SADC, COMESA and the EAC) regional configurations. They are also engaged in the EPA negotiations with the European Union, which would create a free trade area and also the Doha negotiations under the auspices of the WTO. The main objective of this article is to estimate SADC countries’ bilateral trade potential, which may result in the improvements in trade facilitation.

scholarly journals The COVID-19 Pandemic and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): Exploring Potential Impacts and Developmental Implications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Asiedu
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The World ◽  
Vulnerable Households

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused nontrivial disruptions to global value chains and affected the lives of many people, particularly the poor across the world. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the early part of 2020 in Africa, happened during a time that African countries had just signed one of the world’s largest trade agreements and therefore began introducing continental-level structures to strengthen free trade among member states. This chapter examines the potential effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agenda for free trade in Africa, both in the short and in the long-term. Specifically, the chapter explores the trading environment of firms in Africa and highlights generally the challenges faced when implementing a trade agreement in the middle of a pandemic. It also, on the other hand, highlights how trade agreement in a middle of a pandemic can be a good thing to minimize the effect of the pandemic on poor and vulnerable households in Africa. The chapter ends by highlighting the need for managing the COVID-19 pandemic to grow and sustain intra-African trade.

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