PanAfreeka’s Seven Main Themes of the African Continental Free Trade Area – Theme 6
(Simplify multiple and overlapping memberships)
“An integrated continent, politically united and based on the ideals of Pan-Africanism and the vision of Africa’s Renaissance” – Aspiration 2 of Agenda 2063 (Ref-3).
As of now, the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) is probably the closest thing that we have in existence that is closest to aspiration 2 of Agenda 2063 and considering that at the moment words like integrated and united can hardly be used to define a holistic Africa, it is important to make the case that prior to the AfCFTA there have been several initiatives implemented to work towards this and our objective in this publication is to provide an overview of these initiatives.
The African Union is made up of 55 member states and while most of these states are at various stages of endorsing (i.e. signing and ratification) the AfCFTA, (i.e. all with the exception of the State of Eritrea), it can be argued that the Continental Free Trade Area is actually a summation of several other collaborative institutions that African Countries have been part of.
These institutions are usually referred to as regional or sub regional economic communities or arrangements and in more recent years some have evolved into a Tripartite formation. It is also worth mentioning that these economic communities and arrangement are not all created equal in that not all of them are recognised by the African Union. To date, there are 8 regional economic communities recognised by the African Union and cited as the building blocks of the AfCFTA.
Official Regional Economic Communities (REC) in Africa
- AMU – Arab Maghreb Union (also known as UMA-Union du Maghreb Arabe)
- CEN-SAD – The Community of Sahel-Saharan States
- COMESA – Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
- EAC – East African Community
- ECCAS – Economic Community of Central African States
- ECOWAS – Economic Community of West African States
- IGAD – Intergovernmental Authority on Development
- SADC – Southern African Development Community
In addition to these official RECs there are also sub-regional arrangements that various State Parties have used to collaborate on matters of trade.
Sub-Regional Arrangements
- CEMAC – Central African Economic and Monetary Community
- SACU – Southern African Customs Union
- UEMOA – West African Economic and Monetary Union
SADC-EAC-COMESA Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement
More recently there was yet another mega regional arrangement that was agreed to known as the Tripartite Free Trade Area. This Agreement that is in essence a trade agreement between three RECs officially known as the SADC-EAC-COMESA Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement was launched in June 2015.
Multiple and Overlapping Memberships
We hope from all these acronyms you are starting to comprehend why there may be a case to simplify multiple and overlapping memberships. To illustrate further, we will use the Kingdom of eSwatini as an example of multiple memberships. In addition to the AfCFTA, eSwatini is a signatory to the following regional economic arrangements and communities:
- SADC – Southern African Development Community
- SACU – Southern African Customs Union
- COMESA – Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
- SADC-EAC-COMESA Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement.
- eSwatini is a member as a result of their SADC REC membership
- eSwatini is also a member as a result of their COMESA REC membership.
Parallel co-existence and a case for simplicity
While all of these regional economic communities and arrangements provides optimism to the success of the Continental Free Trade Area as it demonstrates that African Countries are already collaborating albeit on a smaller scale, they can be quite confusing and burdensome. Furthermore, they could result in overlaps where the cost benefit of multiple memberships thereof can result in diminishing returns for each respective jurisdiction.
The (Continental Free Trade) Agreement in itself however acknowledges these other Regional Economic Communities (RECs) not only as building blocks but also as existing institutions and makes provision for them to run parallel alongside the AfCFTA. In line with the objective of simplifying multiple and overlapping memberships, the Agreement is also mindful of the urgent need to consolidate and build on achievements in services liberalisation and regulatory harmonisation at the REC and continental levels.
Also, the (Continental Free Trade) Agreement, addresses potential conflicts and inconsistencies that may arise between it and other REC Agreements. In Article 19 of the Agreement, it stipulates that the AfCFTA will prevail in the event of a specific inconsistency. It however also acknowledges their existence by stipulating that State Parties that belong to other regional economic communities and arrangements and have attained a higher level of regional integration than the (Continental Free Trade) Agreement will be allowed to maintain such higher levels of regional integration among themselves.
In conclusion, there is therefore a case for simplicity. However while this is desired it will probably be some time before we see an integrated Africa where all the economic arrangements are dissolved and rolled up into the African Continental Free Trade Area. The AfCFTA will first have to prove itself and evolve to the point where the value derived from it for all State Parties that are part of a regional economic arrangement exceeds the benefits from that regional economic arrangement before conversations around a more simplified structure can gain significant support and buy-in.
References (Ref.)
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Useful Links (UL)
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