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AfCFTA: Africa's Trade Revolution

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is a trade agreement between 27 African Union member states that was signed in 2018. Ratification by 22 countries was required for it to take effect, which occurred in 2019 through parliamentary ratification in countries like Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and the Sahrawi Republic. The agreement creates a free trade area across the continent and allows for further negotiations on related policies and regulations.

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62 views1 page

AfCFTA: Africa's Trade Revolution

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is a trade agreement between 27 African Union member states that was signed in 2018. Ratification by 22 countries was required for it to take effect, which occurred in 2019 through parliamentary ratification in countries like Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and the Sahrawi Republic. The agreement creates a free trade area across the continent and allows for further negotiations on related policies and regulations.

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The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is a trade agreement which is

in force between 27 African Union member states.[1][8][9][10] It was signed in Kigali, Rwanda,
on 21 March 2018. As of July 2019, 54 states have signed the agreement.[11] Ratification by
22 countries was required for the AfCFTA to enter into force and the African Continental
Free Trade Area to become effective. The agreement will function as an umbrella to which
protocols and annexes will be added.

Negotiations continued in 2018 with Phase II, including Competition Policy, Investment and
Intellectual Property Rights. A draft shall be submitted for the January 2020 AU
Assembly.[12]

Kenya and Ghana were the first countries to deposit the ratification instruments on 10 May
2018, after ratification through their parliaments.[2] With ratification by Sierra Leone and the
Sahrawi Republic on 29 April 2019, the threshold of 22 ratifying states for the free trade area
to formally exist was reached.[7] As a result, the AfCFTA came into force on 30 May 2019.
Outstanding issues like the trade concession agreements and rules of origin remain under
negotiation. On 7 July 2019, at a summit in Niger, the AfCFTA entered its operational
phase.[13][14]

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