Miscellaneous
On April 2nd 2019 The Gambia ratified the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, reaching the threshold of 22 countries needed to put the agreement into force. This agreement is a step towards the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which will be the largest free-trade area in the world. Is this heading towards Kwame Nkrumah's dream of a United States of Africa or is it a neoliberal project destined to fail? The AfCFTA will cover a market of 1.2 billion people and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of USD 2.5 trillion. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimates that the agreement will boost intra-African trade by 52 percent by 2022. What are the pros and cons of such an agreement? Who benefits - and who is left out? What are the regional and global implications?