https://allafrica.com/stories/202012010767.html
A month before the commencement of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, two more countries have finalized their ratification of the agreement. Lesotho and Tanzania turned in their instruments of ratification to the African Union Commission. The number of countries is now up to 32 who have ratified themselves with the new agreement. There is now a lot of pressure on the last 22 countries who have yet to ratify themselves in the agreement. Originally the agreement was supposed to go into effect on July 1st however the COVID-19 pandemic caused there to be a 6 month push back. The agreement will be the largest free trade agreement in the world, it will unite 1.2 billion people and over $2.5 trillion economic bloc.
The Africa Continental Free Trade Area is a huge stepping stone for the continent and every country that is on it. Africa as a whole has a lot of countries below the poverty line, are low on tradable goods, low on natural resources, and are in the first couple stages of the development scale. Therefore a free trade agreement of this size should allow the countries involved to boost themselves and everyone else in the agreement. Each country will be able to not only increase trade, but economic strength and growth.
This connects back to the discussion we had in class about globalization and how it can be positive or negative. I think this agreement will be positive because this can have a huge effect on the world’s international landscape in the years to come. This could give superpower countries like the US, China, and Russia different countries to get involved with which will help level out the world’s overall trade. This trade agreement is similar to those of the EU and the North American trade agreement and the effect that this could have on international relations is great. Similar to the EU and the North American trade agreement this will have a positive effect on the 22 African countries that are involved because their relations with one another will help to strengthen their economies.