Implementing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA): policies, regulations, laws and institutions required for development
type: CreativeWork
description: On 26 May 2013 at the 21st Ordinary Assembly of the African Union's Assembly, African heads of state and governments adopted a solemn declaration for the continent's development. This prompted, in 2015, the official launch of a 50-year blueprint (i.e. Agenda 2063) for the re-creation of the region through a people-driven process into one that is integrated, prosperous and defined by inclusive growth and sustainable development. This blueprint has 15 flagship projects for effectuating the aim of continental growth, transformation, and development. One of these flagship projects is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Africa's most ambitious attempt at integration and development since the formation of the African Union, and the subject of this research. The AfCFTA is an African Union member-state driven free trade area, founded on theories of trade, and driven by Pan-African values that promise an endogenous pathway to inclusive and sustainable development. The initiative, once fully operational, will have the effect of integrating the continent for the first time under one regime of liberalisation that covers goods, services, intellectual property, investment, competition, and digital trade, among others. It is submitted, however, that trade integration alone may not provide enough stimulus for the holistic development that the region deeply requires. Development, imposes (in addition to increasing trade by operationalising the AfCFTA) an imperative for building regulatory and institutional capacity and (where necessary) reforming the trade governance processes in the state parties. It is against this background that this study probes into the implementation of the AfCFTA in the context of select case studies; Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. The study combined doctrinal research with empirical methods that utilised semi-structured interviews with public and private sector stakeholders from the three countries. The thesis is structured into two parts. The f…
abstract: On 26 May 2013 at the 21st Ordinary Assembly of the African Union's Assembly, African heads of state and governments adopted a solemn declaration for the continent's development. This prompted, in 2015, the official launch of a 50-year blueprint (i.e. Agenda 2063) for the re-creation of the region through a people-driven process into one that is integrated, prosperous and defined by inclusive growth and sustainable development. This blueprint has 15 flagship projects for effectuating the aim of continental growth, transformation, and development. One of these flagship projects is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Africa's most ambitious attempt at integration and development since the formation of the African Union, and the subject of this research. The AfCFTA is an African Union member-state driven free trade area, founded on theories of trade, and driven by Pan-African values that promise an endogenous pathway to inclusive and sustainable development. The initiative, once fully operational, will have the effect of integrating the continent for the first time under one regime of liberalisation that covers goods, services, intellectual property, investment, competition, and digital trade, among others. It is submitted, however, that trade integration alone may not provide enough stimulus for the holistic development that the region deeply requires. Development, imposes (in addition to increasing trade by operationalising the AfCFTA) an imperative for building regulatory and institutional capacity and (where necessary) reforming the trade governance processes in the state parties. It is against this background that this study probes into the implementation of the AfCFTA in the context of select case studies; Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. The study combined doctrinal research with empirical methods that utilised semi-structured interviews with public and private sector stakeholders from the three countries. The thesis is structured into two parts. The f…
author: Nagu, Yakubu
keywords: Commercial Law
date published: 2023
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:24Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Commercial Law

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39731