AfCFTA suffers setback as Benin Republic slams CFA9m on Nigeria-bound transit cargoes

Leadership -21 June 2022

AfCFTA suffers setback as Benin Republic slams CFA9m on Nigeria-bound transit cargoes

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), may have suffered setback over huge tariffs and checkpoints delaying smooth movement of transit cargoes along the West African corridor.

The AfCFTA is an ambitious trade pact to form the world’s largest free trade area by connecting almost 1.3bn people across the 54 African countries. The agreement aims to create a single market for goods and services in order to deepen the economic integration of Africa.

The AfCFTA aims to reduce tariffs among members and covers policy areas such as trade facilitation and services, as well as regulatory measures such as sanitary standards and technical barriers to trade.

The agreement was brokered by the African Union (AU) and was signed by 44 of its 55 member states in Kigali, Rwanda on March 21, 2018. The only country still not to sign the agreement is Eritrea, which has a largely closed economy.

As of 10 February 2022, 41 of the 54 signatories had deposited their instruments of ratification with the chair of the African Union Commission, making them state parties to the agreement.

But, despite the ambiguous and inherent potentials in the agreement, it seems it has hit a snag as checkpoints, tariff hinder movement of goods and trade facilitation.

source : Leadership

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