Africa’s continental free trade area: A short history of progress and what might hold it back

By Joe Amoako-Tuffour

In this article, ACET’s Director of Research, Joe Amoako-Tuffour, shares insights on Africa’s Continental Free Trade Area. He argues that in building effective Regional Economic Communities (RECS) and Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), three steps are key:

Africa must first mobilize its national and business leadership commitment to overcome old impediments and rent-seeking trappings; second, mobilize its own domestic resources to fund regional integration priorities, institutions and regional public goods; and third, commit to an economic environment that lowers the transaction costs of doing business.