African Continental Free Trade Agreement's Conditional Most Favoured Nation: A Necessary Compromise?

The inception of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) constitutes a major advancement in Africa's economic integration process. Diverging from what appears to be the norm in contemporary trade treaties, the agreement adopts a conditional Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause hinged...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWorld trade review Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 93 - 111
Main Authors Tsorme, Rita Mawufemor, Amoah, Joseph
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.02.2024
Subjects
Original Article
AfCFTA
most favoured nation
trade
regional integration
reciprocity
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Summary:The inception of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) constitutes a major advancement in Africa's economic integration process. Diverging from what appears to be the norm in contemporary trade treaties, the agreement adopts a conditional Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause hinged on the principle of reciprocity. Without the promise to reciprocate preferential treatment, the beneficiary state does not assume the right to demand MFN treatment. In broader discussions, this feature has been criticized for possessing the tendency to restrict trade. However, examining it in the context of Africa's trade paradigm, this paper argues that the non-automaticity of the AfCFTA's MFN clause is a cardinal feature safeguarding its existence.
ISSN:1474-7456
1475-3138
DOI:10.1017/S147474562300040X