Commercial Opportunities for AfCFTA in Africa

The Project at A Glance

The entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents a significant potential for a pan-African common market, with a market of 1.2 billion people. The AfCFTA is expected to bring down the barriers to intra-African trade, but it can also represent opportunities for UK businesses.
International Economics Consulting ltd. conducted a research for the Department for International Trade UK (DIT) to understand the commercial benefits that comes from the AfCFTA for UK businesses and investors

What We Found

Interest in Africa has been gaining traction in both the UK government and business industry. There are several factors driving interest which in turn would lead to increased exports and this includes the entry into force of the AfCFTA, which shows global markets that Africa is intent on facilitating continental trade.
Our Team has conducted a detailed review of the text of the Agreement to identify the impact that the agreed text might have on the private sector. Through the analysis of the Agreement, as well as interviews with key stakeholders, a potential impact of the AfCFTA on trade and investment could be identified, allowing the team to better understand sentiments on individual markets, identify the main competitors, and to highlight main challenges to trade and investment.

Our Strategy and Impact

UK’s trade with Africa has experienced a significant decreased over time which reflects the drop in exports from Africa to the UK. AfCFTA opens up opportunities for UK businesses and many UK organisations acknowledge it as a strong step towards overcoming barriers. Our analysis gave a good indication of the main sectors to focus on the experts to Africa, specifically three key sectors emerge as displaying high level of potential.
Our research also highlighted that the UK brand enjoys high levels of trust, quality, and value in the market and the trade reputation can be enhanced through the engagement with AfCFTA. However, there are challenges stopping the UK’s stakeholders from entering the African market. Our recommendations were based on the observations shared during the stakeholder consultations

Our Core Solutions

As businesses seek to expand operations into new markets, the need to explore global supply chains and understand the international regulatory framework becomes crucial. At International Economics Consulting, we build tailor-made strategies for both import and export-oriented business solutions.

Related Projects

Evaluative Report on Taxes on Digital Services

Investment facilitation in BPO, Data Centre, Cloud Computing and ot...

Tanzania and Zanzibar Value Chain Analysis

Illicit Trade Tracking in Southern Africa

Preparation of EPA Evaluative Reports - Ghana

M&E Framework for World Bank supported Regional Digital ID Prog...

Project Areas

How can we help you?

Get in touch with our experts or