The African Continental Free Trade Area: Why is Africa turning to multilateralism?

Abstract

The Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area entered into force on 30 May 2019 and on 9 July all countries on the continent joined it. It marks a significant milestone in the process of African integration which started as soon as the countries on the continent gained their independence. If the massive deal works as hoped, it will connect 1.3 Billion people, create a 3.4 Trillion USD economic bloc, and heat up commerce within the continent itself. The paper aims at tracing the process of economic integration in Africa, discussing the rationale behind Africa’s current efforts to achieve multilateral trade liberalization, analyzing the main features and assessing the potential benefits of the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.