Encourage industrial development through diversification and regional value chain development, agricultural development, and food security. Enhance competitiveness of member states within Africa and in the global market. Achieve sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, gender equality and structural transformations within member states. Move towards the establishment of a future continental customs union. Aid the movement of capital and people, facilitating investment. Establish a liberalized market through multiple rounds of negotiations. Create a single market, deepening the economic integration of the continent. The general objectives of AfCFTA can be summarized as follows, to:
#Africa trading blocs free#
The main purpose of the agreement is for members to remove tariffs from 90% of goods, allowing free access to commodities, goods, and services across the continent. The AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area in terms of the number of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organization with all African countries being signatories except for Eritrea. Currently, Africa accounts for only 2% of global trade and only 17% of African exports are intra-continental, compared with 59% for Asia and 68% for Europe. Launched on 1 January 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is an exciting game changer for African trade. Through these memberships, many foreign entrepreneurs have set up their businesses in Mauritius to gain from the trade advantages offered.Īpart from SADC and COMESA, Mauritius is now part of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA). Mauritius ranks first in Africa has also made its way to Africa by being a member to two of the continent’s most important trade blocs, namely the Southern African Development Community SADC, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Mauritius and the other Africa countries are long known for the ties they share, both politically and economically.
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The Mauritius Financial Centre has built a reputation as a safe, trusted and competitive financial center, which has enabled it to position itself as the preferred jurisdiction for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) flows to the continent, since the country can serve both the Francophone and Anglophone Africa.
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Mauritius, being strategically located between Asia and Africa, praise itself as having one of the continent’s most stable regulatory environment. How can Mauritius take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)?