In January 2021, the African Union launched the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which is one of the largest free trade areas in the world with a combined market of 1.2 billion people across 55 countries.[1] AfCFTA is an important milestone in the history of Africa as it provides the region with an enormous opportunity to strengthen its position in the global trading system. AfCFTA will help create the largest single market for goods and services and at the same time boost intra-Africa trade by reducing the tariffs by 90 percent.[2] AfCFTA is expected to enhance intra-Africa trade by 52.3 percent by 2022[3] as well as attract worldwide investment.
