The AfCFTA as yet another experiment towards continental integration

The African continental free trade area: the road ahead for the continent’s bold integration project

“…Without losing sight of the piecemeal efforts of economic integration during the era of colonization (Gérout et al , 2019), regional integration became a continental agenda in Africa in relation to the formation of the OAU (Albert, 2019). As a reflection of the main problem that many African countries faced in the 1950s and 1960s (colonialism) (Badejo, 2008), the OAU’s main objectives, as stated in its Charter, were mostly political and focused on Pan-Africanism.…”

“…During and after the formation of the OAU, many decisions were adopted and measures taken that aimed at facilitating regional integration in the continent. The OAU passed several resolutions to this effect, notably including the establishment of the preparatory economic committee to study the potential of integration and its 3rd Summit resolution in 1966 that supported “the idea that sub-regional initiatives could positively contribute to a Pan-African integration project” (Gérout et al , 2019, p. 18). There were also numerous integration initiatives at sub-regional level in the continent, as the proliferation of RECs in the 1970s and 1980s demonstrated (Odijie, 2019).…”

“…The Treaty, among others, established the AEC and set out a 34-year plan of progressively enhancing regional integration in the continent by using the RECs as stepping stones for more deeper continental integration (monetary and customs unions). It has been observed that “[t]he principal significance of the Abuja Treaty was in transforming the frequently articulated political visions and plans of continental economic integration into a legally binding treaty” and its establishment of “a rules-based integration programme” (Gérout et al , 2019, p. 21). The formation and enlargement of RECs also continued following the adoption of the Treaty, including through the establishment of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in 1992.…”

The African Continental Free Trade Area: A Historical Moment for Development in Africa

“…As of July 2021, 40 African countries had ratified the AfCFTA. This achievement crowns a vision of continental trade integration that is over 50 years old (Gérout et al, 2019). In 1963, the Summit Conference of Independent African States, the inaugural meeting of the Organization of African Unity, appointed a 'preparatory economic committee to study … the possibility of establishing a free trade area between the various African countries' .…”

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Under the leadership of Adebayo Adedeji, from 1975, ECA proactively led in initiatives such as the Lagos Plan of Action and the establishment of the RECs (Gérout et al, 2019). ECA research on the rationale for a continental trade agreement in 2010 foreshadowed the AU's Boosting Intra-African Trade Action Plan in 2012 that formally envisaged for the first time a 'continental free trade area' .

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