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African Continental Free Trade Agreement

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African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)
  Ratifying parties
  Signed March 2018, not ratified
  Signed July 2018, not ratified
TypeTrade agreement
Signed21 March 2018
LocationKigali, Rwanda
Effective30 May 2019
ConditionRatification by at least 22 states
Original
signatories
44 states
Signatories
8 additional states [1]
Ratifiers
24 states [7]
DepositaryAfrican Union Commission
LanguagesEnglish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Spanish

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is a trade agreement between 49 African Union member states,[1][8][9][10] with the goal of creating a single market followed by free movement and a single-currency union.[11][12] The AfCFTA was signed in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21 March 2018. Ratification by 22 countries is required for the agreement to enter into force and the African Continental Free Trade Area to become effective. The agreement will function as an umbrella to which protocols and annexes will be added.

Negotiations continued in 2018 with Phase II, including Competition Policy, Investment and Intellectual Property Rights. A draft shall be submitted for the January 2020 AU Assembly.[13]

Kenya and Ghana were the first countries to deposit the ratification instruments on 10 May 2018 after ratification through their parliaments.[2] With ratification by Sierra Leone and the Saharawi Republic on 29 April 2019, the threshold of 22 ratifying states for the free trade area to formally exist was reached.[7] As a result, the AfCFTA came in to force on 30 May 2019. This is a historical day for the continent to move in to an integrated trading system, but this does not mean states will begin trading immediately. Outstanding issues like the trade concession agreement and rule of origin remain under negotiation.


Partner states

As of May 2019, 52 of the 55 African Union states had signed the agreement, with Benin, Eritrea and Nigeria the only countries not signing the agreement. 24 of these member states have deposited their instrument of ratification.[14] The 24 countries that have deposited their instruments of AfCFTA ratification with the AUC Chairperson are Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Niger, Chad, Congo Republic, Djibouti, Guinea, eSwatini (former Swaziland), Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), Senegal, Togo, Egypt, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Saharawi Republic, Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso.[14]

Country Signed By afCFTA Consolidated Text Kigali Declaration Free Movement Protocol
 Algeria Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia Yes Yes No
 Angola President João Lourenço Yes Yes Yes
 Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadéra Yes Yes Yes
 Chad President Idriss Déby Yes Yes Yes
 Comoros President Azali Assoumani Yes Yes Yes
 Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh Yes Yes No
 Equatorial Guinea Prime Minister Francisco Pascual Obama Asue Yes Yes Yes
 Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba Yes Yes Yes
 Gambia President Adama Barrow Yes Yes Yes
 Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo Yes Yes Yes
 Ivory Coast Vice President Daniel Kablan Duncan Yes No No
 Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta Yes Yes Yes
 Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane No Yes Yes
 Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Yes Yes Yes
 Morocco Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani Yes No No
 Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi Yes Yes Yes
 Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou Yes Yes Yes
 Republic of the Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso Yes Yes Yes
 Rwanda President Paul Kagame Yes Yes Yes
 Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic President Mohamed Abdelaziz Yes Yes No
 Senegal President Macky Sall Yes Yes Yes
 Seychelles Vice President Vincent Meriton Yes Yes No
 South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa No Yes No
 Sudan President Omar al-Bashir Yes Yes Yes
 Eswatini Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini Yes Yes No
 Tanzania Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa No Yes No
 Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa Yes Yes No

Nigeria

Nigeria has yet to sign the agreement. At over 173 million people, Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and dwarfs the second most-populous country, Ethiopia, with 100 million people. With a nominal GDP of US$376 billion, or around 17% of Africa's GDP, it is just ahead of South Africa, which makes up the next 16% of Africa's economy. Because Nigeria is such a significant country in Africa in terms of its population and its economy, its absence since the initial signing of the agreement until now is particularly conspicuous. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa underscored this in comments on 12 July 2018, saying "The continent is waiting for Nigeria and South Africa. By trading among ourselves, we are able to retain more resources in the continent" (South Africa has since signed the agreement).[15]

44 countries initially signed the agreement in 21 March 2018. Nigeria was one of 11 African Union nations to avoid initially signing. At the time, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said that Nigeria couldn't do anything that would undermine local manufacturers and entrepreneurs.[16] The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, which represents 3000 Nigerian manufacturers, praised the decision to back out of the agreement.[16] The Nigerian foreign minister tweeted that more domestic consultation that was needed before Nigeria could signed the agreement.[17] Former president Olusegun Obasanjo said Nigeria's delay was regrettable.[18] The Nigeria Labour Congress called the agreement a "renewed, extremely dangerous and radioactive neo-liberal policy initiative", suggesting increased economic pressure would pressure workers into migration under difficult and unsafe conditions.[19]

On 21 July 2018, five more nations signed the agreement, including South Africa. At that time, the Nigerian government emphasized its non-participation was a delay, not a withdraw, and promised to soon sign the agreement.[20] As the foreign minister had earlier emphasized, the Nigerian government intended to consult further with local businesses in order to ensure private sector buy-in to the agreement.[21]

As the Nigerian government continued to consult with local business groups in the latter half of 2018, a key concern was whether the agreement adequately prevented anti-competitive practices such as dumping.[22] As 2018 drew to a close, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said the delay was "regrettable", emphasizing the lack of trade in goods amongst African countries, the difficulties in travelling from one African country to another, and the colonial legacy which these restrictions on Africa's growth represented.[23] The government steering committee in charge of the consultative process was due to release its report on the agreement in January 2019.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b "Summary of the key decisions and declarations of the 31st African Union Summit". 2018-06-06.
  2. ^ a b c "Kenya and Ghana to ratify instruments of African Continental Free Trade Area | African Union". au.int. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  3. ^ "Africa's Single Market To Come Into Force In July 2019". KT Press. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  4. ^ https://qz.com/africa/1507273/africas-free-trade-agreement-was-signed-in-2018
  5. ^ https://www.togofirst.com/en/economic-governance/0712-2169-togo-ratifies-law-to-create-african-continental-free-trade-area
  6. ^ a b https://face2faceafrica.com/article/uganda-officially-joins-the-africa-free-trade-deal-over-20-countries-on-the-fence
  7. ^ a b "African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Legal Texts and Policy Documents". Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  8. ^ "African states agree massive trade bloc". BBC News. 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  9. ^ "Africa Set to Agree $3 Trillion Trade Bloc, Without Key Economy". Bloomberg.com. 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  10. ^ AfricaNews. "Forty-four countries sign historic African Union free trade agreement | Africanews". Africanews. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  11. ^ "African Union - African Continental Free Trade Area" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2018-03-21. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "African Continental Free Trade Area: What you need to know". Retrieved 2018-03-21.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "Decision on the draft agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)" (PDF). au.int. African Union. 21 March 2018.
  14. ^ a b CENTRE, TRALAC TRADE LAW. "African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Legal Texts and Policy Documents". tralac. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  15. ^ "Cautious Nigeria agrees to sign African continental free-trade agreement". 12 July 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  16. ^ a b "Nigeria's Buhari explains failure to sign continental free trade agreement". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Nigeria says domestic consultation needed on Africa free trade agreement". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  18. ^ "Nigeria's delay in ratifying African free trade agreement regrettable – Obasanjo". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  19. ^ "Why Nigeria, South Africa did not join other Nations to sign Continental Free Trade agreement". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  20. ^ "Nigeria's President Buhari says will soon sign up to African free-trade agreement". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  21. ^ "Why Nigeria had good reasons to delay signing Africa's free trade deal". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  22. ^ "Nigeria: Why We Are Worried Over African Free Trade Agreement - Dangote, MAN, LCCI". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  23. ^ "Nigeria's Delay in Ratifying African Free Trade Agreement Regrettable - Obasanjo". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  24. ^ "Nigeria's study on AfCFTA ready next January". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
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