The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) continues to advance Africa’s regional integration and development goals, presenting a historic opportunity to reshape trade, investment, and innovation across the continent. By creating the world’s largest free trade area by number of participating countries, the AfCFTA seeks to dismantle long-standing barriers to intra-African trade, deepen regional value chains, promote industrialisation and enhance Africa’s competitiveness in global markets.

 Beyond tariff liberalisation, the Agreement is designed to harmonise trade rules, improve market access, stimulate private sector participation and foster sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The inclusion of Phase II issues under the AfCFTA reflects the recognition that tariff liberalisation alone is insufficient, and that deeper regulatory cooperation is necessary to stimulate investment, foster innovation, strengthen market competition and support sustainable economic transformation across Africa.


As new protocols are ratified and legal frameworks harmonised, the primary challenge shifts from negotiation to execution: ensuring that the AfCFTA delivers real economic benefits, empowers local enterprises, integrates small and medium-sized businesses into regional value chains and promotes inclusive and sustainable development.

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