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Addis Ababa will play host to the annual African Union summit this weekend to discuss the nuts and bolts of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which, many say, are making only little headway since its inception
Addis Ababa will play host to the annual African Union summit this weekend to discuss the nuts and bolts of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which, many say, are making only little headway since its inception. The free trade accord is the largest in the world in terms of population and will gather representatives from 54 out of 55 African countries, with Eritrea the only exception. The meeting, which will be kicked off tomorrow will have the theme “Acceleration of AfCFTA implementation”.
The trade bloc has been formed keeping in mind lofty objectives. It seeks to boost intra-African trade by 60 percent by 2034 by eliminating almost all tariffs. This will translate into creating an economic bloc of 1.3 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of US$3.4 trillion as against the present intra-trade hovering around 15% as against 65% in the EU. A World Bank study says that the trade bloc, upon achieving its full momentum sometime around 2035 or so, would lift 50 million Africans out of extreme poverty and raise incomes by nine percent.
That being the optimistic scenario, facts on the ground do not seem to be supporting the assertion. The implementation of the pact of 54 countries is facing hurdles on account of the disagreements among contracting parties. The onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic and later the ongoing Russian -Ukraine war also has had a negative impact on the progress of the free trade agreement.
There are a number of imponderables the trade bloc is upfront with. Some of them are endemic, such as conflicts in the Sahel region, continuing violence in DRC and South Sudan, Jihadists threats, floods, and draughts that appear frequently across the continent, internecine animosities among the member states are some of them, which strike at the root of the trade bloc, which was formed after years of negotiations and consultations among the stakeholders.
Widespread corruption, loopholes in the governance apparatus, political instability, etc are some of the factors that hold back the progress of the free trade area.
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