2. Trajectory of the aims of the AfCFTA Agreement

The agreement establishing the AfCFTA was opened for signature on 21 March 2018 (AU, 2018). A commendable level of commitment has been demonstrated by member states since signing the agreement. The AfCFTA agreement entered into effect on 30 May 2019, the final step before operationalisation. On 7 July 2019, the operational phase of the AfCFTA was launched, instituting the five operational instruments governing the AfCFTA: the Rules of Origin; the online negotiating forum; the monitoring and elimination of non-tariff barriers; a digital payments system; and the African Trade Observatory. As of 6 May 2020, all but one African country (Eritrea) have signed the AfCFTA agreement (Apiko et al, 2020), 30 countries have met domestic conditions for the AfCFTA ratification, and 28 of these countries have deposited their ratification instruments with the depository of AfCFTA (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2020). The African Union Commission (AUC) inaugurated the AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra, Ghana, in August 2020. Following the global crisis brought on by the COVID19 pandemic, the start of trading was postponed from 1 July 2020 to 1 January 2021 (Apiko et al, 2020). As of 4 October 2021, the Trade Law Centre (TRALAC) announced that 38 countries had deposited their instruments of ratification with the Chairperson of the AUC, making it possible for the AfCFTA to take effect.

The AfCFTA agreement consists of eight general objectives:

a. Create a single market for goods and services facilitated by the movement of persons, in order to deepen the economic integration of the African continent and in accordance with the Pan

African Vision of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa” enshrined in Agenda 2063. b. Create a liberalised market for goods and services through successive rounds of negotiations. c. Contribute to the movement of capital and natural persons, and to facilitate investments building on the initiatives and developments in the State Parties and Regional Economic Communities. d. Lay the foundations for the subsequent establishment of a Continental Customs

Union. e. Promote and attain sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, gender equality and structural transformation of the State Parties. f. Enhance the economic competitiveness of the State Parties within the continent and on the global market. g. Promote industrial development through diversification, regional value chain development, agricultural development and food security. h. Resolve the challenges of multiple and overlapping memberships and expedite the regional and continental integration processes.