Nigeria ansluter sig till afrikanskt frihandelsavtal

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is a trade agreement between 49 African Union member states, with the goal of creating a single market followed by free movement and a single-currency union. The AfCFTA was signed in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21 March 2018. Ratification by 22 countries is required for the agreement to enter into force and the African Continental Free Trade Area to become effective. The agreement will function as an umbrella to which protocols and annexes will be added. Negotiations continued in 2018 with Phase II, including Competition Policy, Investment and Intellectual Property Rights. A draft shall be submitted for the January 2020 AU Assembly.Kenya and Ghana were the first countries to deposit the ratification instruments on 10 May 2018 after ratification through their parliaments. With ratification by Sierra Leone and the Saharawi Republic on 29 April 2019, the threshold of 22 ratifying states for the free trade area to formally exist was reached. As a result, the AfCFTA came in to force on 30 May 2019. Outstanding issues like the trade concession agreements and rules of origin remain under negotiation.