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AfCFTA

World’s biggest free-trade pact targets first deal in 2021
17-Aug-2020 Bloomberg
The outstanding negotiations will be finalized through a new African virtual trade-diplomacy platform that is being developed as a public-private partnership between the African Union Commission and more than 20 African multinational companies.
AfCTA threatening intra ECOWAS trade
13-Aug-2020 Goldstreet Business
The impending commencement of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) will remove the advantage of intra-ECOWAS trade.
Proceed with caution over USA trade deal
6-Aug-2020 The Star
Negotiations over a trade agreement between Kenya and the US have resumed. The deal could undermine African common markets and flood Kenya with cheap maize and chicken.
Pessimism surges, but many insist African free trade will take off
31-Jul-2020 TRT World
Initially planned to take place on 1 July 2020, the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been indefinitely postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
What Kenya is seeking in free trade deal talks with America
26-Jul-2020 The Nation
Kenya’s need to export value-added agricultural products dominated the first round of talks with America after its formal launch on Wednesday last week.
ECOWAS holds Regional Meeting on AfCFTA for ECOWAS Institutions and Specialised Agencies
23-Jul-2020 Journal du Cameroun
The Economic Community of West African States held a virtual meeting on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for ECOWAS Institutions and Specialised Agencies on the 21st of July 2020.The AfCFTA seeks to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments, in order to engender the acceleration and establishment of a continental Customs Union.
Africa free trade area to create new opportunities for China-Africa cooperation: expert
22-Jul-2020 XinhuaNet
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will create new opportunities for China-Africa cooperation, an Ethiopian expert said on Tuesday.
Proposal to push AfCFTA implementation to January
21-Jul-2020 New Times, Rwanda
The executive secretary of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), has proposed to African heads of state that trading under this framework starts in January 2021, according to an official.
Nigeria can’t survive AfCFTA with weak industrialisation – Gbajabiamila
10-Jul-2020 Punch
For Nigeria to compete and survive in the African Continental Free Trade Area, it must as a matter of national emergency ramp up industrialisation and manufacturing activities, the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said.
What do FTAs mean for African women? A critical look into the African Continental Free Trade Area
9-Jul-2020 GRAIN
What does this trade deal mean for African women and their role in the continent’s food production and trade?
Opposition to the proposed US-Kenya free trade agreement
9-Jul-2020
Kenya should abandon or, at the very least, postpone the United States-Kenya Free Trade Agreement negotiations to a later date, civil society groups say in letter to the AfCFTA Secretariat.
Investor-state dispute settlement in Africa and the AfCFTA Investment Protocol
8-Jul-2020 Tralac
With the growing concern over the traditional ISDS system, it is highly unlikely that the AfCFTA will include an ISDS mechanism giving investors access to go to international arbitration under conventional international tribunals.
More lobbies oppose Kenya, US trade talks
8-Jul-2020 The Standard
Kenya’s negotiations for a free trade deal with America has received opposition from organisations drawn from across Africa.
PAW2020: The future of ISDS in Africa
8-Jul-2020 African Law Blog
African states need to take a unified and proactive approach to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), in order to make a system that is fairer to Africa and more consistent.
Africa free-trade vision clouded by virus and pace of talks
1-Jul-2020 Yahoo
A historic deal to smash down tariff barriers within Africa is being braked by the coronavirus pandemic and a thicket of negotiating problems.
Africa-wide trade deal will push ahead despite coronavirus wrath
24-Jun-2020 Al Jazeera
Even if the pandemic continues into 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area will move ahead, a top official says.
An early assessment of the prospective Kenya-United States trade agreement
22-Jun-2020 Afronomics Law
Kenya’s negotiations with the United States while the African Union is in ongoing negotiations on a future agreement between African countries makes this a transitional moment in Africa’s trading relationship with the West.
More Kenyan flowers in US bouquets as trade talks to start
19-Jun-2020 Bloomberg
US-Kenya trade talks are due to start in the next couple of weeks, US Trade Representative, as Kenya President announced discussions have been delayed until the Africa free-trade deal comes into force.
The US apparel and footwear industry is urging Congress to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act this year
12-Jun-2020 Politico
AGOA doesn’t expire until 2025, but the industry looks for certainty to the region in the face of the pandemic and upcoming US trade talks with Kenya.
Africa free trade zone could launch on Jan 1, says official
12-Jun-2020 Reuters
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could begin operating on January 1 next year, after the COVID-19 pandemic made its original launch date untenable.