African Continental Free Trade Area Discussion

The 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2012, adopted a decision to establish an African wide Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by an indicative date of 2017. The Summit also endorsed the Action Plan on Boosting Intra-Africa Trade (BIAT) which identifies seven clusters: trade policy, trade facilitation, productive capacity, trade related infrastructure, trade finance, trade information, and factor market integration. The AfCFTA will bring together fifty-five African Union Member States with a combined population of more than one billion, two hundred million people and a combined gross domestic product of more than US $2.5 trillion.