The Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, has dismissed talks that the AfCFTA arrangement was being rushed, saying there is no trade agreement where all members were ready at the same time. Indeed, there have been concerns about countries’ readiness for the trade deal; many are yet to address issues bordering strategies and customs procedures.
Specifically, pre-existing nuances that are peculiar to African markets in terms of alignment with Western partners, language, visa restrictions, currency, insecurity, Customs Union, existing trade agreements in regions, dependence on commodity exports, infrastructure, low manufacturing activities among others, raise concerns about the expected progress from the AfCFTA market.
