Economic Digest 16
The African Free Trade Agreement and its Potential for Growth
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is an ambitious plan that will create the world’s largest free trade zone in terms of participating countries since the establishment of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). AfCFTA came into being in 2019 when 22 African nations ratified it. To date, 54 out of the 55 African Union member countries have signed the agreement, which means that a single market of 1.3 billion people is about to be created that could potentially lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty. Here are a few articles to help with understanding what the advantages and challenges of AfCFTA are, and what it will mean for South Africa.