Presentation Date: Feb 14, 2026
AGSA Abstract
In 2019, the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) formally entered into force. This instrument constitutes a comprehensive accord executed by all African states, the primary objective being the establishment of a continental single market that mandates the free movement of goods, persons, capital, and services across signatory jurisdictions. The AfCFTA is globally being presented as a novel and critical agreement designed to galvanize intra-African trade, ensure that African citizens can circulate freely and without hindrance across the continent, and, ultimately, foster the deep integration of states and economies throughout the entire African domain. However, the most striking element of the current discourse is the pronounced tendency to characterize it as a pioneering integration project, almost a disruptive paradigm shift, intended to foster regional integration and remedy the inherent defects of previous initiatives. While this agreement is new, a critical legal review must address whether the project is, in effect, truly innovative. The African continent has a history of antecedent regional integration endeavors, most notably codified in the Abuja Treaty, which originally established the African Economic Community (AEC). Similarly, the structural transformation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU) was promoted as a new and transformative undertaking, yet it did not fundamentally supersede or invalidate the foundational initiative of the Abuja Treaty. Upon critical review, the AfCFTA Agreement appears situated firmly along the same structural and institutional trajectory as the Abuja Treaty. Consequently, this juridical examination seeks to establish that the AfCFTA is best analyzed as a project of continuity in the long-term construction of a continent-wide single market. This endeavor, therefore, is inherently susceptible to encountering the same systemic challenges unless its implementation is executed with optimal efficiency and a regionally differentiated approach.
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