Understanding the African Continental Free Trade Agreement

The report details the projected economic benefits of the AfCFTA, including significant GDP and employment growth, while highlighting critical implementation challenges such as non-tariff barriers, rules of origin, and the 15-year timeline to reach 97% tariff-free trade.

• The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is projected to deliver substantial economic benefits, including $16.1 billion in welfare gains, a 1-3% increase in GDP growth, a 1.2% increase in employment growth, a 33% increase in intra-African trade, and a 50% decrease in Africa's trade deficit.
• The AfCFTA aims for 97% tariff-free trade across African markets, though this target will only be achieved after 15 years due to varying domestic contexts and timelines across countries.
• Several challenges may hinder the full leverage of the agreement, including the potential for non-tariff barriers to offset tariff liberalisation, the implementation of a stringent rules of origin regime to ensure value-addition occurs within African countries, and the lengthy process of finalising services liberalisation negotiations.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2020). Understanding the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. https://saiia.org.za/research/understanding-the-african-continental-free-trade-agreement/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Understanding the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. 2020. https://saiia.org.za/research/understanding-the-african-continental-free-trade-agreement/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Understanding the African Continental Free Trade Agreement |date=26 February 2020 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/understanding-the-african-continental-free-trade-agreement/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2020understanding, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Understanding the African Continental Free Trade Agreement}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2020}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/understanding-the-african-continental-free-trade-agreement/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }