Realising One Market for Africa

Can African achieve the creation of a continental free trade area by the end of 2017? Intra-regional trade within the African continent is less than 20% - much lower than other regions - and few countries have achieved sustained development without increasing their trade-to-GDP ratio. Here are links to news articles analysing some of the likely effects of a new free trade area for Africa. Import tariffs average less than 5% so the major challenge will be making significant progress in lowering some of the many non-tariff barriers or obstacles to trade.

From UNCTAD, a trade deal that could change the African continent - click here