The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) takes effect with aspirations to cover all of the continent’s 55 nations. As stipulated in the agreement establishing the continent’s free trade zone, AfCFTA went into effect on May 30, 2019.
The agreement, which went into effect on Thursday, is intended to capitalize on a growing young population, improve intra-African commerce, and rely less on commodity price volatility, which affects raw materials, which account for a large portion of exports.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aspires to integrate, diversify and industrialize African economies of around 1.3 billion people, with a total gross domestic product (GDP) of 3.4 trillion dollars. Except for Eritrea, all African countries signed the free trade agreement in March 2018, though 23 countries have deposited the agreement with their respective legislative bodies for ratification.