Recipe for AfCFTA: New report looks at ‘what’s next’ for the Continental Agreement

Abstract

The ninth edition of the flagship Assessing Regional Integration in Africa report (ARIA IX) was launched on 6 July 2019 during the African Business Forum in Niamey, Niger. It is titled ‘Next Steps for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).’ The report argues that AfCFTA’s success will be measured largely by its ability to actually change lives, reduce poverty and contribute to economic development in Africa. ARIA IX is jointly published by the ECA, UNCTAD, AU and AfDB. The secretary-general of UNCTAD, Mukhisa Kituyi, also spoke at the launch and highlighted “competition, investment and intellectual property rights” as crucial requirements in the next phase of the AfCFTA, as expounded in the report. Mr. Kituyi expressed his “solidarity and partnership with ECA and AUC” and urged the African business community to “take ownership of the integration effort” on the continent. ARIA IX notes that traditional investment treaties predominate on the continent, with major repercussions for the policy and regulatory space available to policy makers. The report recommends that ratification of the AfCTA, which went into force on 30 May 2019, must be followed by effective implementation and that implementation will be more effective if national AfCFTA committees are created by country trade ministries. The Implementing the AfCFTA is about dispelling the crisis of implementation of AU decisions and initiatives and validating the AU and its Agenda2063.