Compiled by Carin Smith
Tariffs alone are not the only barriers to the recently signed African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), according to the Deidre Samson, a futures consultant and new knowledge market executive at the Institute for Futures Research (IFR), a unit for strategic foresight at Stellenbosch University.
The agreement to implement ACFTA was only reached in July, following Nigeria’s decision to join. It covers 54 of Africa’s 55 states and creates a market of 1.3 billion people, expected to grow to 2.5 billion by 2050.
If it is fully implemented, 90% of tariffs should be eliminated in five years. There could be a delay to 10 years for least developed countries.
Samson says ACFTA recognizes that other “invisible”, non-tariff trade barriers exist such as bureaucracy, lack of infrastructure, technical and conformity assessments as well as other hidden charges and taxes…Read more>>
