Designing Preferential Rules of Origin for the AfCFTA: Addressing Pre-Existing Challenges at the Regional Level

Abstract

African countries are still negotiating the RoO for AfCFTA. Rules of Origin (RoO), a mechanism for determining the economic nationality of a product, are an essential part of international trade due to their use in the enforcement of preferential treatment of goods. AfCFTA member states seek to build upon RoO under their existing RECs. However, the design and implementation of RoO under the various RECs are seen as one of the obstacles to intra-Africa trade. This article examines the RoO of Africa’s key RECs, namely the EAC, COMESA, ECOWAS, SADC and the TFTA, with a view to drawing out lessons, the drawbacks that need to be addressed or avoided, and shaping the RoO of the AfCFTA to enhance the achievement of its objective of promoting intra-African trade.