IMPLICATION OF THE AFRICA CONTINENT FREE TRADE AGREEMENT ON OTHER GLOBAL MARKET

The implementation, enforcement, and monitoring of such agreements are very complex and more so in a place with poor regional coordination. When fully implemented, the CFTA will be a binding force and it will significantly impact how individual countries negotiate with the rest of the world in terms of trade agreements.

Presently,. each African country and the regional bloc has several trade agreements with other global markets; some of these agreements will have to be renegotiated to recognize the existence of the CFTA.

Under the CFTA, African leaders will have stronger bargaining power on all continental and global trade issues. An indication of this strength manifested in a recent interview with David Luke, Coordinator of African Trade Policy Center at UNECA, who said “Gone are the days when larger economies pick us off individually; now they will have to deal with us all equally or not at all”.

Considering how advanced economies have engaged with Africa in the recent past, it appears China foresaw its current trade faceoff with the United States and has been preparing a soft landing in Africa. The volume of US-China trade of $635 billion is nothing compared to China’s trade of $170 billion with Africa but in a worst-case scenario of prolonged irreconcilable differences between the two countries, China would probably have more leverage to explore alternative trade routes globally.