African Continental Free Trade Area

Economic · AfCFTA

On 21 March 2018 at an extraordinary summit in Kigali, 44 African Union member states signed the agreement establishing a single continental market for goods and services. It entered into force on 30 May 2019, once the twenty-second ratification had been deposited, and trading under it began on 1 January 2021. The agreement leaves the older regional trade blocs standing.

Questions about AfCFTA

Which countries are in the African Continental Free Trade Area?

The agreement was opened to the member states of the African Union rather than to a negotiated list, and the 54 countries filed here are the ones whose own records carry the membership. At the Niamey session on 7 July 2019 the Assembly recorded that the signatures then covered every member state of the Union except Eritrea. Signature and ratification are separate acts, and a signatory becomes a state party only once its instrument of ratification is deposited.

When did the AfCFTA enter into force?

Article 23 sets entry into force at thirty days after the deposit of the twenty-second instrument of ratification. That deposit was recorded on 29 April 2019, within thirteen months of the agreement opening for signature, and the agreement entered into force on 30 May 2019. The operational phase was launched at Niamey on 7 July 2019, and trading under the agreement began on 1 January 2021.

Does the AfCFTA replace ECOWAS, SADC and the East African Community?

No. Article 5 names the free trade areas of the regional economic communities as building blocs for the AfCFTA, and Article 19 provides that state parties belonging to communities, trading arrangements or customs unions that have reached higher levels of integration among themselves keep those higher levels among themselves. The negotiations took eight recognised communities as their starting point, and the group list on each member page here shows the overlap.

How much of a member's tariff schedule does the AfCFTA cover?

The modalities agreed in December 2018 set liberalisation at 90% of tariff lines, with 7% designated sensitive and put on a longer timetable and 3% excluded from liberalisation altogether. Practical trading started narrower than that. The Guided Trade Initiative was launched at Accra on 7 October 2022 with eight participating countries and a first consignment of tea shipped from Kenya to Ghana.

Can a state party leave the AfCFTA?

Article 27 allows withdrawal only after five years from the date the agreement entered into force in respect of that state party, by written notification through the depositary, and the withdrawal takes effect two years after the notification is received. Article 25 forbids reservations besides, so a state accepts the text as a whole rather than in the parts that suit it.

Sources

Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (consolidated text) · African Union. Articles 3 to 7 on objectives, principles and scope, Article 19 on regional agreements, and Articles 22 to 27 on signature, entry into force, the depositary, reservations and withdrawal.
About the AfCFTA · AfCFTA Secretariat. The Kigali session of March 2018 and its 44 signatures, entry into force on 30 May 2019, the handover of the Accra secretariat on 17 August 2020, and the start of trading on 1 January 2021.
12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on the AfCFTA: decisions and declaration, July 2019 · African Union Assembly, republished by the Trade Law Centre. The deposit of 29 April 2019, the state parties listed at Niamey, the signatures of Benin and Nigeria, and the call on those that had not signed or ratified.
Status of AfCFTA ratification · Trade Law Centre. The running record of instruments of ratification deposited with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, standing at 49 signatories when updated in June 2026.
AfCFTA trade and tariff coverage · Trade Law Centre. The modalities agreed in December 2018 at 90% of tariff lines, 7% sensitive and 3% excluded, and the eight regional economic communities taken as the acquis.
AfCFTA's Guided Trade Initiative takes off, set to ease and boost intra-African trade · Africa Renewal, United Nations Department of Global Communications. The launch at Accra on 7 October 2022, the eight participating countries, and the tea consignment from Kenya to Ghana.
Pan-African Payment and Settlement System launched in Accra · African Export-Import Bank. The commercial launch of PAPSS at Accra on 13 January 2022 and its relation to the operationalisation of the agreement.
Protocol to the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area on Digital Trade · African Union treaties register. Adoption at the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly in February 2024.
Protocol to the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area on Women and Youth in Trade · African Union treaties register. Date of adoption 18 February 2024.