In 2018, member states of the African Union signed the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) to implement a single continental market for goods and services and establish a continental customs union. This book discusses regulatory developments across the African continent meant to accommodate and/or further drive economic realities on the ground. The focus here is on the trade in goods. Divided into two parts, the first presents the big picture of the current state of Africa's economic integration and AfCFTA's role in this process, including its history, policy objectives, legal architecture and economic as well as security foundations. Part II addresses the relationship between this new macro-regional trade agreement (RTA) and the WTO multilateral trading system in the era of the fragmentation and policentrisation of global economic governance. Balancing legal, economic and political drivers of and hindrances to trade flows, the work examines how added value can be created via increased regional economic integration while mitigating harm to the coherence of the existing multilateral and global trading system. Written by a combination of academics and practitioners, the work will be a valuable resource for those working in the areas of International Economic Law, International Trade Law, African Law and Development.
