While the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) is built
off the continent's eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs),
it remains of interest how it will operate relative to these
groupings, where there are already many overlapping
memberships.
Each REC has a different approach to economic integration, and
some have already formed customs unions or free trade areas of
their own – or they are in the process of doing so. Others
have simply not yet achieved that level of economic
integration.
While the AfCTA text acknowledges these, and the potential
confusion they could create, it does also state that generally, its
outlines are intended to take precedence.
Further complexities could arise where countries or RECs already
have trading agreements in place with other countries or bodies,
such as those already in place with the European Union, while yet
other countries already have some bilateral trade agreements in
place.
