The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: Legal and Policy Frameworks

This book provides a comprehensive assessment of African economic integration through the lens of International Economic Law. The analysis is contextualised within the prevailing regional economic integrations, the WTO and the peculiarity of the AfCFTA.

Through legal analysis, bolstered by economic and political dimensions, the book illustrates the complex interplay of diverse factors that shape the AfCFTA. Each chapter presents a separate element of economic integration within the principles of international economic law, with an interdisciplinary approach encompassing legal, economic and political perspectives. Covering topics such as economic integration and multilateralism, market access, exceptions, trade facilitation, rules of origin and non-tariff barriers, the book also discusses trade remedies, dispute settlement, investment, intellectual property and completion policy. Additionally, human rights, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development principles are discussed, alongside small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), digital trade and gender in economic integration.

The book will be of interest to students, instructors, practitioners and nonpractitioners in this area of international economic law.

Collins Chikodili Ajibo holds a PhD and LLM from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. He is twice a recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship, Germany. His research interests cover international economic law, with particular inclination for international economic law in Africa. He has published widely in these areas and provided consultancy and advisory services to multiple agencies and institutions at the national, regional and global levels. A Reader with the University of Nigeria, Dr Ajibo is currently with the Institute of African Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, Business and Economics, University of Bayreuth, Germany.