The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) entered into force on May 30 2019, marking another milestone in the pan-African imperative of an economically integrated Africa. In establishing a market of 1.2-billion people, with a combined GDP of $2.5-trillion, the AfCFTA has been hailed as an economic game-changer, with the potential to drive African industrialisation and economic development.

Lifting the barriers that have long divided the continent is accompanied by significant expectations that can only be fulfilled if the benefits from trade expansion are inclusive and the process leaves no one behind...

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