Ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa through trade: The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement charts a new way for development and will help achieve greater integration.

• Date: 01 October 2018
• Author: Muchanga, Albert M.

The signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in March 2018 was an expression of Africa's belief in trade as an engine of growth, job creation and poverty reduction. It was also a bold effort to define a trading relationship among African countries in as inclusive and as sustainable a manner as possible.

African heads of state and government signed on to a package that included liberalization of trade in goods and in services; a legal and institutional framework for the implementation of the agreement; and establishment of a dispute settlement mechanism. Phase 2 of the negotiations, expected to begin in 2019, will cover investment; intellectual property; and competition policy and enforcement.

The accord will come into force one month after the deposit of 22 instruments of ratification with the chair of the African Union Commission. We so far have 13 ratifications. It is important to note that the AfCFTA is not just about trade liberalization, but is also about Africa's integration. It is a political as well as an economic imperative, part of the journey towards an integrated African market as espoused in the Abuja Treaty, which envisages creation of the African Economic Community.

The AfCFTA supports growth, job creation and...