Page 68 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 10

Business
ECONOMY

The African Continental Free

Trade Area and Doing Business Online

By Dillys Mundrugo

he implementation of the the economic integration of the mining, manufacturing and even
African Continental Free continent; education across the African region
Trade Area (AfCFTA) •Establish a liberalized market leading to economic transformation
Tagreement ushers in an through multiple rounds of negoti- across the continent.
exciting new dawn for business and ations;
investment opportunities for the •Aid the movement of capital and While the AfCFTA is a source of
participating countries and their people, facilitating investment; much hope and excitement, we can-
citizens in the coming years. Its •Move towards the establishment of not ignore the other critical aspects
significance and potential impact a future continental customs union; that come with opening up regions
cannot be overestimated as this be- •Achieve sustainable and inclusive for trade. This includes things
comes the largest free-trade area in socio-economic development, gen- like the commitment to quality of
the world, in terms of the number der equality and structural transfor- service delivery, intellectual proper-
of participating countries, since mations within member states; ty rules, competition and even the
the formation of the World Trade •Enhance competitiveness of mem- regularization of e-commerce, all
Organization. With the removal ber states within Africa and in the of which will require continuous
of tariffs on 90% of goods and global market negotiations and improvements over
allowing free access to commodities, •Encourage industrial development time.
the continental barriers to trade will through diversification and regional Are there hurdles facing the new
be lowered, creating opportunities value chain development, agricultur- trade area?
that could only have been dreamt of al development and food security; Yes.
before. and Intra-Africa trade has been histori-
•Resolve challenges of multiple and cally low with intra-African exports
The general objectives of the agree- overlapping memberships at 16.6% of total exports in 2017,
ment are to: [1] The AfCFTA will have great effects compared with 68% in Europe and
•Create a single market, deepening on trade, tourism, agriculture, 59% in Asia, pointing to untapped

68 | Heal . Restore . Rebirth . Afrika