1. Negotiations
2. AfCFTA

AfCFTA annexes under wraps as talks continue behind closed doors

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AfCFTA annexes under wraps as talks continue behind closed doors

by bilaterals.org, 27 June 2025

African governments are deep in consultations over new annexes to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), according to sources aware of the negotiations. Though what exactly is on the table remains largely opaque.

A handful of annexes are known to be under discussion. These include contentious issues such as cross-border data transfers, patents, plant variety protections, resolution of investment disputes, rules of origin, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. It remains unclear how many more could be added.

The AfCFTA, a sweeping free trade agreement signed by 54 of 55 African Union member states, officially came into force in 2019. However its implementation so far has been limited to partial trade among just ten countries (Cameroon, Ghana, Tunisia, Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Nigeria and Mauritius) — under the “guided trade initiative”, which is intended to be scaled up in the near future.

The core agreement, signed in 2018, establishes a framework for the free movement of goods and services across the continent but its scope is limited. The actual rules of engagement are set out in the protocols and their annexes. Three protocols were included from the start: trade in goods, trade in services, and dispute settlement. Five more have since been concluded, covering digital trade, competition, investment, intellectual property, and women and youth in trade. A final protocol on customs and trade facilitation is still under negotiation.

In a departure from standard practice, the AfCFTA’s negotiations and entry into force have rolled out in stages rather than finalising the full text prior to implementation. The piecemeal approach means the full implications of the deal may not be known until long after commitments have been signed. The process has also been anything but transparent, with most details surfacing through backdoor leaks and insider whispers.

Marketed as a bold new step toward pan-African prosperity, the AfCFTA is seen by critics as a repackaging of the same corporate-driven trade models long pushed by the World Trade Organisation and bilateral trade deals. It risks entrenching inequality and threatening the livelihoods of small-scale farmers, workers, and women - communities that form the backbone of Africa’s economies.

For the agreement to fully enter into force, 22 countries must deposit their instruments of ratification for both the core text and the protocols.

The negotiating process, as we know it so far:

The following protocols include the annexes listed below.

Dispute settlement mechanism

Working Procedures
Expert Review

Digital trade

Rules of Origin
Digital Identities
Cross-Border Digital Payments
Cross-Border Data Transfers
Criteria for Determining the Legitimate and Legal Public Interest
Reasons for Disclosure of Source Code
Online Safety and Security
Emerging and Advanced Technologies
Financial Technology

Intellectual property rights

Plant Variety Protection
Geographical Indications
Marks
Copyright and Related Rights
Patents
Utility Models
Industrial Designs and Models
Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expression and Genetic Resources

Investment

Rules and procedures governing dispute prevention, management and resolution of disputes

Trade in goods

Schedules of Tariff Concessions
Rules of Origin
Customs Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance
Trade Facilitation
Non-Tariff Barriers
Technical Barriers to Trade
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
Transit
Trade Remedies

Trade in services

Schedules of Specific Commitments
MFN Exemption(s)
Air Transport Services
List of Priority Sectors
A framework document on Regulatory Cooperation