African Continental Free Trade Agreement's Conditional Most Favoured Nation: A Necessary Compromise? (original) (raw)
Related papers
2019
The signature of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement during the 10th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government held on 21 March 2018, in Kigali, Rwanda, marks a decisive turn in African regional economic integration. After speedily securing the minimum threshold of 22 signatures, the Agreement, with the Protocols on Trade in Goods, Services and Dispute Settlement, entered into force on 30 May 2019. While the AfCFTA comes at a very good time for the continent especially by proposing African solutions to African problems, it also happens amidst a backlashed multilateral trading system epitomised by the US-China trade war, the WTO negotiations stalemate and the likely demise of its dispute settlement mechanism, as well as the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU (Brexit). The AfCFTA’s main aim is to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of businesspersons and investments, and thus pave the way for accelerating the establishment of the continental Customs Union. While the establishment of existing regional trade agreements (RTAs) has not always been conditioned on the satisfaction of the WTO rules on the issue, this article examines the regime under which the AfCFTA should be scrutinised. This calls for the dissection of the pertinence and the desirability of the Enabling Clause as opposed to Article XXIV for this scheme composed of developing and least-developed countries. The paper notes the tendency since 1979 to notify intra-African RTAs under the Enabling Clause contrary to earlier practice.
Georgetown Journal of International Law, 2020
International trade law is at a turning point, and the rules as we know them are being broken, rewritten, and reshaped at all levels. At the same time that institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO) face significant change and a global pandemic challenges the rules of the market, Africa's new mega-regional trade agreement, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), is emerging as a promising framework for redesigning international economic law. As this Article will argue, the AfCFTA presents a new normative approach to trade and development that is positioned to rewrite the rules in a more inclusive and equitable way and, over time, possibly affect global trade well beyond the African continent. Historically, trade and development have been linked through the framework of Special and Differential Treatment (S&D), which has been a central feature of the WTO and is increasingly shaping regional trade agreements (RTAs) as well. Although the connection between trade and development is more important than ever before, traditional S&D is not positioned to deliver on broader priorities of social and economic development in the current international climate. Fortunately, as this Article will argue, Africa's approach under the new AfCFTA sets the stage for a needed refresh of S&D. While the AfCFTA incorporates traditional aspects of S&D, it also includes elements of a forward-looking, rules-based approach to further economic and social development, advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This new dimension of S&D holds great potential for promoting integration through trade, representing the needs of a diverse group of countries in the rulemaking process, and reshaping international economic law more broadly to generate positive development outcomes. This Article begins with an assessment of the AfCFTA as an alternative model for trade and development law, evaluating the agreement in the historical and evolving context of S&D and examining its role in shaping a new normative approach to S&D. The AfCFTA, we argue, represents a shift from using S&D as a largely defensive trade approach to one that positions S&D as an affirmative tool for achieving sustainable development through the design and implementation of the rules of trade themselves, while still maintaining flexibility for countries
The AGOA as stepping stone for USA–Africa free trade agreements
Journal of International Trade Law and Policy, 2018
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to show how the pattern of trade relations between the USA and African countries is gradually shifting toward reciprocity. It therefore demonstrates that the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was conceived to be a building block toward future bilateral trade agreements. Design/methodology/approach-This paper adopts a historical approach to the USA's policy toward Africa in general and in trade matters in particular. It critically reviews the chronology of US involvement in the continent. Findings-Although it was designed as a preferential trade arrangement, AGOA was intended to evolve into reciprocal trade agreements. This is what the USA started doing even prior to the entry into force of the AGOA, by entering into Trade and Investment Framework Agreements with individual countries or blocs. It also transpires that the deployment comes as a response to the European Union which is already engaged in the redefinition of its own trade relations with Africa since 2004. Originality/value-The paper is important in many respects. Not only it is a study of the US practice as preference-granting country, but it is also interested in the typology of trade agreements concluded by the USA in other regions of the world. This is important to indicate and analyze the types of provisions African countries should be expected to face when the time of entering into reciprocal binding trade treaties arrives.
A Step Closer: Economic Integration and the African Continental Free Trade Area
SSRN Electronic Journal
Post-colonial Africa views economic integration as an endogenous means for attaining self-reliant, sustainable development. Working under various regional and sub-regional economic institutions, states elaborated several norms in search of legitimacy in economic competence. However, several political and economic pathogens, including weak institutions, have blighted those efforts. This paper interrogates the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA or CFTA), which is the latest attempt to reboot the integration drive and achieve sustainable development. The CFTA seeks to create a geographic zone where goods and services will move freely among member states by removing trade distortions and boosting factor mobility, competition, and investment. After a rigorous analysis of the relevant normative instruments and examining the vertical and horizontal relationship between the CFTA and regional economic communities (RECs)/member states, the paper articulates some objective criteria for measuring the CFTA's effectiveness. It concludes that, if faithfully implemented, the CFTA could maximize utility and increase welfare. For the analysis and conclusions, the paper deploys principles of public international law as well as economic theories, with a blend of political and moral philosophy.
The AfCFTA and African Trade—An Introduction to the Special Issue
Journal of African Trade, 2021
The agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been attracting a great deal of attention in academic and policy circles, as well as within the international development community. The growing interest in the AfCFTA partly reflects the fact that the African continent is bucking a global trend toward greater protectionism. But it also represents a break with the past on a continent where market fragmentation has emerged as a major constraint to growth and economic development. The AfCFTA offers the opportunity to accelerate the transformation of African economies to boost intra-African trade and enhance integration of the region into the global economy. This paper introduces the Special Issue on 'The AfCFTA and African Trade'. It provides an overview of the existing literature, explores the implications of the landmark agreement for African trade and economic development, and highlights some of the potential challenges associated with its operationalization.
Dialectical & Policy Vistas on African Free Trade Area RL Vol XIII No 419 MMXIX.pdf
Respublica Litereria, 2019
The pact that has evolved in international trade under GATT and WTO tends to focus on free and fair trade but it is not sufficient for inclusive affluence. Trade is inherently buttressed by a reciprocally favourable set of voluntary exchanges that are best conducted as a compliant venture. Rightful complaints undermine the epitome and veracity of free trade. Mending these has proven nauseatingly slow. Hence, the stewardship, management and administration of the trade relations in Africa are marked by uniquely austere organisational-strategic issues. Even under favourable contemporary global conditions, historical, ideological and strategic characteristics internal and external to Africa still would exist that make that transition a costly exercise. Characteristics and problems of this sort can be identified and understood through critical, yet constructive, analysis focused on certain key elements of the African Common Market. There is no simple or immediate identification of the challenges in setting up the African Common Market as they actually are; there is only a definition of them from a certain perspective and towards a certain ‘resolution’. The vision of the founding fathers of African Unity was to promote unity and solidarity, rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonisation and apartheid, coordinate and intensify cooperation for development, safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity and promote international cooperation within the framework of the UN Charter. Participants in the complex traffic web of African futures could be torn between professional caution and the genuine desire for a better future. Such loft visions notwithstanding, repeated attempts to dispel the prevailing gloom to check the overall drift towards ‘fragmentation’ have not yielded to popular aspirations. This raises the fundamental question of what do we mean by African integration in the first place and does it has indigenous roots. Lurking in the background of all these questions is the rather disturbing one: is perhaps all this talk of African development an academic or a public relations exercise? If African leaders want an AU that is relevant to the ordinary Africans, AU must implement the declarations so far, not another norm-setting”. The African Common Market will very much depend on free expression of diverse ideas and beliefs, emergence of supportive set of rules and economic and political institutions and financing peace in Africa. Ultimately, the Constitutive Act of the African Union must migrate from “We, Heads of State and Government of the Member States” to “We the People of the African Union”. Key words: African continental free trade area, African Union, Trade, Tariffs, rules & institutions
Zamfara Journal of Politics and Development, Department of Political Science , 2022
The objective of this paper is to examine the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) of the African Union (AU) and to assess the challenges and prospects for regional integration in Africa in a post covid-19 era. The paper, which is qualitative in its approach, argues that the number of states accepting regional economic integration initiative such as the AfCFTA is one of the major features of globalization whose benefits have not been distributed equally. It also argues that though the AfCFTA is a pillar and beacon of continental wide integration in form of an African Economic Community (AEC) envisaged in the Abuja Treaty, however, the adoption of unrealistic and unfeasible timelines for implementation of the AEC pose serious challenges to regional integration for Africa. Regional integration in Africa seeks to transform Africa by addressing the fragmentation and division brought about by colonialism, and to promote unity and African development. While the AU argues that AfCFTA will boost intra-African economic integration through increased trade and investment, the extent to which African states would reap the benefits of the free trade area remains unclear. Numerous challenges that currently affect intra-African trade include, but not limited to, the low levels of development of African economies and their excessive dependence on primary commodity production and exports, protectionist trade policies, weak infrastructure, and high security risks. The outbreak of novel corona virus (COVID 19) pandemic threatens to reverse the gains made towards takeoff of the AfCFTA as African countries have diverted attention towards mitigation and containment of the spread of the virus in their individual countries. The reluctance of some African states such as Nigeria to sign the AfCFTA shows that not all African states are convinced that the promised continental benefits of free trade would align with their national interests. Some countries perceive the AfCFTA as a re-introduction of the earlier rejected contentious European Union's Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The paper concludes that while most African countries may have signed the agreement, the implications on national economies would be considered by many before and even after ratification. It recommends that the African Union should protect the vital interests of member states by commissioning in-depth studies and to carry out further enlightenments on the AfCFTA. This will go a long way in transforming Africa's trade potentials to benefits for the growth and development of member states.
Feleke Habtamu Zeleke on African Continental Free Trade Area
2020
Abstract The journey towards African economic integration in growth efforts and unity began afterward most African countries gained independence from European colonial powers in the late 1950s to 1960s. The foundation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1964, emphasized this desire for regional cooperation with regard to economic and socio-political affairs. The African Union has launched the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which most African countries are a member, will be the world largest free trade area once it’s fully up and running. This paper explores the relationship between AfCFTA with Pan-Africanism and dispute settlement mechanisms and how it is a milestone for the reinforcement of African economic trade. Pan-Africanism is an ancient idea of African countries unity. The efforts made by the African leaders and African Union for the establishment of African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement is a remarkable move of Pan-Africanism to create economic, social and political integration among African States The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) also added a new dispute settlement system to the overabundance of judicial instruments designed to resolve trade conflicts throughout Africa.
The African Continental Free Trade Area: Toward a New Legal Model for Trade and Development
Social Science Research Network, 2020
International trade law is at a turning point, and the rules as we know them are being broken, rewritten, and reshaped at all levels. At the same time that institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO) face significant change and a global pandemic challenges the rules of the market, Africa's new mega-regional trade agreement, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), is emerging as a promising framework for redesigning international economic law. As this Article will argue, the AfCFTA presents a new normative approach to trade and development that is positioned to rewrite the rules in a more inclusive and equitable way and, over time, possibly affect global trade well beyond the African continent. Historically, trade and development have been linked through the framework of Special and Differential Treatment (S&D), which has been a central feature of the WTO and is increasingly shaping regional trade agreements (RTAs) as well. Although the connection between trade and development is more important than ever before, traditional S&D is not positioned to deliver on broader priorities of social and economic development in the current international climate. Fortunately, as this Article will argue, Africa's approach under the new AfCFTA sets the stage for a needed refresh of S&D. While the AfCFTA incorporates traditional aspects of S&D, it also includes elements of a forward-looking, rules-based approach to further economic and social development and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This new dimension of S&D holds great potential for promoting integration through trade, representing the needs of a diverse group of countries in the rulemaking process, and reshaping international economic law more broadly to generate positive development outcomes.
Strathmore Law Review, 2021
African countries have long recognised that regional integration is vital if Africa is to optimise its growth potential and boost its bargaining power in the global marketplace. This explains the proliferation of several Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) across the continent culminating in the conclusion of the landmark African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). However, despite the concerted efforts to boost intra-trade among African countries, African borders remain ‘thick’ because of the continued existence of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) that reverse gains made from initiatives of trade liberalisation. Accordingly, if the landmark Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is to be successful, it must strive to address and eliminate Africa’s NTBs. It is argued in this paper that while the AfCFTA makes some important strides in reducing NTBs in intra-African trade, there are still some significant gaps in the AfCFTA’s provisions on NTBs that need to be addressed. Some of these g...