Analysing Intra-African Trade

AFCFTA: Much Ado About Nothing?

Peter Draper, Habtamu Edjigu & Andreas Freytag

Published: December 2018


In March 2018, most African heads of state gathered in Kigali to sign the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), marking the culmination of intense negotiations. A number of central issues remain unresolved: it is an agreement with a substantial sensitive/exclusion list for tariffs on goods, with strict product-specific rules of origin and institutions for remedying trade that could be abused to protect domestic lobbies. The regulatory content of the AfCFTA could be described as ‘WTO-minus’, although it does bring non-members of the World Trade Organization into the fold. The level of ambition in the services negotiations seems to be low so it is likely that further liberalisation will be pursued over time, encompassing new areas such as e-commerce.



Download Paper in PDF format



More Papers From These Authors in World Economics:


Global Financial Crisis, Protectionism and Current Account Deficit

The recent financial and economic crisis, and the resurgence in the popularity of emerging markets has raised fears in these economies of a resumption in capital flight or a sudden stop of capital inflows. The latter, in particular, is intensively discussed in South Africa. We try to evaluate this danger by focusing on the sustainability of South Africa’s current account deficit during the recent past, and on longterm economic policy developments in the country. We argue that the macroeconomic as well as the relevant microeconomic policy variables do not suggest a sudden stop. However, to lower this risk further, the microeconomic environment has to be improved considerably in the future. This includes mainly reforms in the areas of infrastructure, competition and trade policy.

Read Full Paper >


Global Financial Crisis, Protectionism and Current Account Deficit

The recent financial and economic crisis, and the resurgence in the popularity of emerging markets has raised fears in these economies of a resumption in capital flight or a sudden stop of capital inflows. The latter, in particular, is intensively discussed in South Africa. We try to evaluate this danger by focusing on the sustainability of South Africa’s current account deficit during the recent past, and on longterm economic policy developments in the country. We argue that the macroeconomic as well as the relevant microeconomic policy variables do not suggest a sudden stop. However, to lower this risk further, the microeconomic environment has to be improved considerably in the future. This includes mainly reforms in the areas of infrastructure, competition and trade policy.

Read Full Paper >