{"id":956,"date":"2025-03-11T18:37:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T18:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/?p=956"},"modified":"2025-03-11T18:56:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T18:56:58","slug":"role-and-progress-of-the-afcfta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/11\/role-and-progress-of-the-afcfta\/","title":{"rendered":"Role and Progress of the AfCFTA?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"956\" class=\"elementor elementor-956\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ba1b923 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"ba1b923\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-67c0be1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"67c0be1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Role and Progress of the AfCFTA?<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-62c9117 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"62c9117\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-4010c29 elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time>March 11, 2025<\/time>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ddd9b3b elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"ddd9b3b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48d3669 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"48d3669\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;shape_divider_top&quot;:&quot;opacity-tilt&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-shape elementor-shape-top\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-negative=\"false\">\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 2600 131.1\" preserveAspectRatio=\"none\">\n\t<path class=\"elementor-shape-fill\" d=\"M0 0L2600 0 2600 69.1 0 0z\"\/>\n\t<path class=\"elementor-shape-fill\" style=\"opacity:0.5\" d=\"M0 0L2600 0 2600 69.1 0 69.1z\"\/>\n\t<path class=\"elementor-shape-fill\" style=\"opacity:0.25\" d=\"M2600 0L0 0 0 130.1 2600 69.1z\"\/>\n<\/svg>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0521172 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0521172\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b32889f elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-featured-image elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"b32889f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-featured-image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AfCFTA-1024x768.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-957\" alt=\"AfCFTA\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AfCFTA-1024x768.webp 1024w, https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AfCFTA-300x225.webp 300w, https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AfCFTA-768x576.webp 768w, https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AfCFTA-1536x1152.webp 1536w, https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AfCFTA-600x450.webp 600w, https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AfCFTA.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c1e696e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"c1e696e\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4b35287 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4b35287\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The AfCFTA promises to transform Africa\u2019s economy, but is it delivering? While tariff reductions and trade initiatives are gaining momentum, high transport costs and border delays still pose major challenges. Can this ambitious agreement truly unlock Africa\u2019s full trade potential, or are structural hurdles holding it back?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6b6b575 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"6b6b575\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c8d31a5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c8d31a5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), launched on January 1, 2021, is a game-changer for Africa\u2019s economic landscape, and as of March 11, 2025, it\u2019s steadily reshaping how the continent does business. At its core it aims to create a single, integrated market for goods and services across 54 of Africa\u2019s 55 nations (Eritrea\u2019s the holdout), covering 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP pushing $3.4 trillion.<\/p><h2>Organisation\u2019s objectives:<\/h2><ul><li>Fostering specialization and accelerating industrialization;<\/li><li>Expanding employment and investment opportunities;<\/li><li>Advancing technological development;<\/li><li>Enabling African-owned businesses to enter new markets, broaden their clientele, and develop new goods and services;<\/li><li>Bridging the manufacturing gap;<\/li><li>Providing more opportunities for MSMEs to generate more well-paying jobs, particularly for young people;<\/li><li>Boosting investments that provide cash to indigenous companies; streamlining the process of importing raw materials from other African nations;<\/li><li>Allowing MSMEs (Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises) to establish assembly companies in other African nations to provide more affordable production methods (macmap.org).<\/li><\/ul><p>Here\u2019s a personal experience to remind us all why the AfCFTA is important. About 5 years ago we got involved in a construction project in neighboring Mali. We needed tiles and found beautiful artisanal tiles manufactured in a village in Niger. We decided to go for these, as opposed to order in Europe. The deciding factor was to support the local village artisans and their craft.<\/p><p>So we placed our order with the village. Some weeks later our order was ready, which we collected with a 15 ton truck. Once export formalities were in order, our truck crossed the border on the way to Mali via Burkina Faso. The journey, not without its fair share of delays, took about 4 weeks. Our order eventually was delivered to our construction site with limited tiles breakages.<\/p><p>In the end, when we factored in all costs, we concluded that it would have cost the project 30% less if we had ordered the same volumes of tiles from Europe, transport included. We find this outrageous!<\/p><h2>Where is the AFCFTA today?<\/h2><p>By 2025, 47 countries have ratified it, and tariff reductions are rolling out\u2014slowly but surely. Pilot projects, like Ghana exporting machinery to Kenya tariff-free, show it\u2019s not just talk. The AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra pushing digital trade tools, like the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), to cut currency exchange headaches.<\/p><p>Logistics lag\u2014transport costs in Africa are 2-4 times higher than in Asia due to poor roads and ports. Non-tariff barriers (think corrupt checkpoints or mismatched standards) still clog borders. Funding\u2019s tight too; the $10 billion AfCFTA Adjustment Fund is trickling in slower than hoped.<\/p><p>AfCFTA\u2019s a lifeline. ECOWAS countries like Nigeria and Ghana are leaning in\u2014Nigeria\u2019s exported cement to Niger spiked 20% in 2024 under AfCFTA rules. But trucking delays and port chaos (e.g., Lagos) blunt the gains, tying back to those infrastructure gaps.<\/p><p>AfCFTA\u2019s role is to stitch Africa\u2019s patchwork economies into a powerhouse, flipping the script from colonial trade patterns (raw goods out, finished goods in) to a self-reliant continent. It\u2019s not just economics\u2014it\u2019s a political flex, proving Africa can coordinate at scale. Full impact? Decades off. But it\u2019s already nudging GDP growth (1-2% annually by some estimates) and forcing governments to rethink infrastructure and skills.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61612ff e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"61612ff\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b519630 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b519630\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-09925db e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"09925db\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f1c19e9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"f1c19e9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1018\" height=\"1019\" src=\"https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bac-favicon-dark.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-600\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bac-favicon-dark.png 1018w, https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bac-favicon-dark-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bac-favicon-dark-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bac-favicon-dark-768x769.png 768w, https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bac-favicon-dark-600x600.png 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1018px) 100vw, 1018px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8d0944e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8d0944e\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-171ec4d e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"171ec4d\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b691025 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"b691025\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Helping you to build success in Africa<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-eae9009 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"eae9009\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWe assist foreign companies and organisations that may not\nhave previous experience in 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While tariff reductions and trade initiatives are gaining momentum, high transport costs and border delays still pose major challenges. Can this ambitious agreement truly unlock Africa\u2019s full trade potential, or are structural hurdles holding it back?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Role and Progress of the AfCFTA? - BridgeAfricaConsulting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bridgeafricaconsulting.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/11\/role-and-progress-of-the-afcfta\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Role and Progress of the AfCFTA? - BridgeAfricaConsulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The AfCFTA promises to transform Africa\u2019s economy, but is it delivering? 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