JOHANNESBURG - Touted as the world's largest single market in terms of the number of member nations, Africa's ambitious blueprint for free trade kicks into gear on January 1, bringing together more than 50 economies from Algeria to South Africa.
Jakkie Cilliers, head of African Futures and Innovation at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, says it will be a long way before tariffs are scrapped, red tape is slashed and much-trumpeted gains are realised. AfCFTA's plan is to boost intra-African trade by 60% by 2034 by eliminating almost all tariffs, creating an economic bloc of $3.4 trillion.
This means it will be a long time before tangible results are felt in the world's poorest continent, he said. Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, only deposited its ratification instrument on December 5 after having signed it a few weeks earlier.Integrating over 50 markets that are at very different levels of development will be daunting, Cilliers said.
Other issues to be thrashed out are how to dovetail existing or future trade agreements between Africa or individual African countries with Europe, China and the United States."Corruption of government officials, slow processing of documentation around the borders... and lack of capacity will remain a challenge going forward in implementing the continental free trade area and making it real," said Cilliers.
No musk no social distance