Kweku Attakora Dwomoh is a lecturer with the Ashesi Law Department. He is an international commercial, trade, and investment expert, author, researcher, and consultant with experience in dispute settlement, business regulation, and international trade law. He has served as an expert consultant to the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat and co-authored a first-of-its-kind book on the sale of goods in Africa, published by LexisNexis.
Africa is at an important moment of opportunity, with growing momentum toward more inclusive and sustainable growth. Although about 464 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa were estimated to be living in extreme poverty in 2024, the continent is also building strong foundations for change. A key part of this is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a major initiative that helps Africa use its large market, strengthen trade between countries, and promote shared economic growth.
The African Advantage
Africa has a distinctive advantage in the global economy, albeit underestimated. The spotlight on Africa has conveniently been on its challenges and woes. Yet the African continent holds significant advantages in its vegetation, weather, people, resources, demographics, untapped markets, cultural diversity, flexibility, and labor force.
The continent has the youngest population in the world, with over 60% of Africans under 25. This youthful population represents energy, creativity, and adaptability. Africa also has a strategic economic advantage due to its market potential. With a population exceeding 1.3 billion, Africa represents one of the largest emerging consumer and production markets in the world.
The African Continental Free Trade Area strengthens this advantage by creating a single continental market that reduces fragmentation and encourages intra-African trade. This integration offers African businesses the scale needed to grow, industrialize, and compete globally.
Indeed, the AfCFTA is at a defining moment in Africa’s economic history. It represents the most ambitious effort by African states to create a unified market of 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of over US$3.4 trillion. Yet its success will not be measured by treaties signed in conference halls but by how many Africans experience its benefits in everyday economic life. For the AfCFTA to truly transform the continent, it must become integral to the daily activities of traders, manufacturers, investors, and consumers — in effect, Africa’s daily bread.
Legal Frameworks as the Foundation for Confidence in AfCFTA
Legal certainty drives investor confidence. Worldwide, countries with transparent, enforceable trade rules attract greater foreign direct investment; for example, countries ranked highest in the World Bank’s Doing Business indicators consistently record stronger inflows of capital.
One of the long-standing concerns for investors in Africa has been regulatory fragmentation, inconsistent application of laws across borders, and weak dispute resolution mechanisms. The AfCFTA directly addresses these concerns by creating a continent-wide, rules-based trade regime that reduces uncertainty and harmonizes key aspects of market access, customs procedures, and regulatory cooperation.
Under the AfCFTA, a uniform set of clear commitments on tariff liberalization and trade facilitation reduces the cost and risk of cross-border investment. Investors are more willing to commit capital when they can plan supply chains across multiple African countries under a single legal framework rather than a space with conflicting national systems.
The AfCFTA, through its Protocol on Dispute Settlement, establishes a well-defined dispute resolution mechanism and body, giving investors the assurance of resolving trade disputes fairly.
In practical terms, when AfCFTA legal frameworks are embedded in domestic law and enforced by strong institutions, they reassure investors that their rights will be recognized, that disputes can be resolved fairly, and that market access commitments will be honored. This creates investor confidence, drawing the continent closer to realizing the African Advantage.
What Africans Must Know
For the AfCFTA to succeed, Africans must move beyond seeing it as an abstract project and begin to understand it as a practical tool that shapes everyday economic life.
First, Africans must understand that the AfCFTA is not the political vision of any leader. It is neither rhetoric. It is a trade rules-based legal framework. Thus, buyers and sellers, manufacturers, and service providers need basic awareness of tariff reductions, rules of origin, customs procedures, and dispute settlement mechanisms. They need this knowledge to know what preferences they can claim and what cost advantages they can access to gain a competitive edge.
Second, Africans must recognize the importance of value addition and regional value chains. The AfCFTA is designed to encourage production within Africa rather than the export of raw materials. Businesses must understand how sourcing inputs across borders, meeting rules of origin requirements, and complying with standards can unlock new markets. This mindset shift is critical for industrial growth and job creation.
Third, policymakers and institutions must appreciate that implementation matters more than merely having an agreement. Without the implementation of the trade advantages and rules the AfCFTA brings, the agreement will lose its relevance and remain only an aspirational concept.
Finally, Africans must see the AfCFTA as a collective responsibility. Its success depends on participation by businesses, civil society, academia, and ordinary citizens. When Africans understand their rights, obligations, and opportunities under the AfCFTA, they become active contributors rather than passive observers.
In essence, the AfCFTA will succeed when Africans know how to use it, trust its rules, take ownership of its promise, and make it their daily bread.
