The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is becoming real - and that’s just the start
A single African military force, a single currency and a single passport for Africans
‘It only required 22 African countries to realize the dream of a single continental market for goods and services. Africa finally reached that goal in April 2019 when the Gambia submitted its instruments of ratification for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.
This means the AfCFTA will enter into force in 30 days, a year after 44 countries first signed the consolidated text of the Agreement in the Rwandan capital Kigali to enable the long-awaited economic integration and movement of goods and persons across member states.
Currently, only 52 of the 55 African states have signed the text with the exception of Nigeria, Eritrea and Benin who are still on the fence due to diverse reasons including pressures from business leaders and labour unions who believe the agreement could affect their economies.
Out of the 52 countries, only 22 have submitted their instruments of ratification starting with Ghana and Kenya in May 2018.
Several meetings have been held over a long period of time to realize that dream but to no avail. 44 years after the attempt to create a Union Government during the founding of the OAU, the opportunity came up once again at the 9th Ordinary Session of the newly formed African Union (AU) in Accra, Ghana in 2007.
The agenda was to debate the creation of the Union Government that will lead to the formation of the United States of Africa as adopted by a 2006 study. The study proposed a single African military force, a single currency and a single passport for Africans. (...)’
The article was published on 05th april 2019, source .
