Priorities and Benefits of the AfCFTA

The report argues that the AfCFTA is essential for Africa to overcome a colonial legacy of exporting primary goods and importing manufactured equipment. It highlights that while official intra-African trade is low (14.8% in 2021), informal trade is significantly higher due to high formal costs. The AfCFTA aims to formalise trade, develop regional value chains, and prioritise industrialisation in sectors like agri-business and pharmaceuticals to enhance global competitiveness and economic stability.

• Africa's trade structure remains heavily reliant on primary and resource-based exports, which are subject to volatile global prices and lead to lower, more unstable economic growth compared to manufactured exports.
• Intra-African trade is significantly lower than in other regions, with only 14.8% of Africa's trade being internal in 2021, compared to 54.5% for Asia and 68.4% for Europe.
• Official trade data underestimates intra-African trade because high tariffs, processing fees, and poor border infrastructure drive a large volume of informal trade; for example, informal trade at a Zambia-Malawi border crossing was estimated at US$2.9 million per month compared to US$1.6 million in formal trade in 2019.
• The AfCFTA prioritises the industrialisation of specific sectors with high potential for import substitution and local value addition, including agri-business, automotive, pharmaceuticals, transport, and logistics.
• The agreement identifies five priority service sectors for initial liberalisation: business, communication, financial, transport, and tourism services.

APA

Chipanda, B., & Cilliers, J. (2026). Priorities and Benefits of the AfCFTA. Institute for Security Studies. https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=08-afcfta&topic=07-priorities

Chicago

Chipanda, Blessing, and Jakkie Cilliers. Priorities and Benefits of the AfCFTA. Institute for Security Studies, 2026. https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=08-afcfta&topic=07-priorities.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chipanda |first1=Blessing |last2=Cilliers |first2=Jakkie |title=Priorities and Benefits of the AfCFTA |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=31 March 2026 |url=https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=08-afcfta&topic=07-priorities |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chipanda2026priorities, author = {Chipanda, Blessing and Cilliers, Jakkie}, title = {{Priorities and Benefits of the AfCFTA}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2026}, month = mar, url = {https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=08-afcfta&topic=07-priorities}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }