Long-awaited Africa free trade area takeoff delayed by six sta | Extol ™
Long-awaited Africa free trade area takeoff delayed by six states ……………
Six countries drawn from three regional economic blocs are yet to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), delaying its implementation more than a year after it was formally launched in January 2021. The AfCFTA, a brainchild of the African Union’s integration and prosperity Agenda 2063, was supposed to create one large market for its member states. But more than a year after inception, some countries are still dragging feet in adopting its legal framework in domestic laws. In the East African Community (EAC), South Sudan is yet to ratify the AfCFTA and in Southern African Customs Union (SACU), Botswana is yet to ratify and deposit its instrument of ratification.
Ten State Parties and non-State Parties — Comoros; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Mozambique; Libya; Somalia; Sudan; Tunisia; and Sahrawi Republic — are yet to submit any tariff offer.
