The African Continental Free Trade Area is among the most ambitious economic projects of this generation: a single market spanning the continent, with the potential to lift intra-African trade from a stubbornly low share of the total.
The promise
The logic is compelling. Larger markets allow specialisation; specialisation raises productivity; productivity lifts incomes. A continent that trades more with itself is also more resilient to external shocks.
Free trade agreements are signed by presidents but implemented by customs officers.
The plumbing problem
Tariff schedules are the easy part. The harder work is operational:
- Customs harmonisation so goods are not delayed at every border.
- Standards and rules of origin that are clear, consistent and enforced.
- Transport corridors — roads, ports, rail — that make moving goods physically viable.
The realistic timeline
Deep integration is measured in decades, not summits. The agreement's success should be judged not by the speed of its launch but by the steady, unglamorous improvement of the systems that let it function.