Creating a unified regional market: towards the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area in East Africa

Abstract

This new East Africa report is fruit of a partnership between TradeMark East Africa and ECA’s sub-regional office for Eastern Africa – two organisations that share a pan-African vocation and the conviction that greater intra-regional trade and investment is the way forward. As one of the largest trade facilitation organisations in the world, TMEA brings a wealth of experience in financing measures to reduce trade barriers and facilitate cross-border business. TMEA is planning to heavily support implementation of the AfCTA by working with countries to reduce numerous existing bottlenecks to African trade that, without remedy, will reduce the potential benefits of the AfCFTA. We will do this in partnership with Governments, the Africa Union, ECA and hundreds of partners on the ground. This practical focus on implementation, combined with ECA’s convening power and thought-leadership on the AfCFTA, makes for an effective collaboration.