Mauritius And The AfCFTA Part 3: Dispute Settlement

This article is the third of a series analysing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its implications for the Mauritian business community. This third article explores the Protocol on Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes, focusing on the consultations and panel process for dispute settlement under the Protocol. An upcoming article (Part 4) will analyse the appeals process through the Appellate Body as well as arbitration.

As highlighted in Part 1¹, the AfCFTA is a landmark trade agreement, constituting the largest free trade area in the world in terms of the number of participating countries. The Agreement, which brings together 54 African countries and eight regional economic blocs, represents a combined population of 1.3 billion and total GDP estimated at USD 3.4 trillion. The AfCFTA aims to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers on almost all trade in goods and services.