African Continental Free Trade Area and African Union Agenda 2063: the roads to Addis Ababa and Kigali

Abstract

ABSTRACTWhile Afro-optimism emphasises the prospects of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Afro-pessimism focuses on the challenges of AfCFTA in Africa. Even as Afro-optimists and Afro-pessimists continue to dominate academic discourse and African scholarship, this article departs from these two by interrogating the free trade area in Africa through the prism of Afro-realism. The article investigated the implications of prospects and challenges of AfCFTA for achieving the objectives of regional integration as encapsulated in the aspirations of Agenda 2063 in Africa. The article sufficiently demonstrated that the AfCFTA fits into the strategic frameworks and goals of AU regional integration and 2063 Agenda. The conclusion of this article from Afro-realist prognosis, therefore, was that if the prospects are enhanced to overcome the challenges confronting the Agreement through strict implementation and enforcement, it will likely achieve the objectives of the AU regional integration agenda and the aspirations of the AU 2063 Agenda.