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African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

Basic InformationWTO Consideration ProcessRTA Provisions

Agreement name:	African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
Coverage:	Goods	Type:	Free Trade Agreement
Status:	In Force	Notification under:	Enabling Clause
Date of signature:	21-Mar-2018	Date of notification:	18-Jun-2025
Date of entry into force:	30-May-2019
Remarks:	Signed but not yet ratified by: Benin, Libya, South Sudan and Sudan. Western Sahara is referred to as the "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" in this notification. The references to the AfCFTA State Parties in this notification do not constitute or imply an expression of opinion by the WTO Secretariat concerning the status or boundaries of any territory.
Current signatories:	Algeria; Angola; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Comoros; Congo; Côte d'Ivoire; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Egypt; Equatorial Guinea; Eswatini; Ethiopia; Gabon; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mauritius; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Sao Tomé and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Tanzania; The Gambia; Togo; Tunisia; Uganda; Western Sahara; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Original signatories:	Algeria; Angola; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Comoros; Congo; Côte d'Ivoire; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Egypt; Equatorial Guinea; Eswatini; Ethiopia; Gabon; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mauritius; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Sao Tomé and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Tanzania; The Gambia; Togo; Tunisia; Uganda; Western Sahara; Zambia; Zimbabwe
RTA Composition:	Plurilateral
Region:	Africa
All Parties WTO members?	No	Cross-Regional:	No

Official Web Address

Text of the agreement

Text of the agreement	E F

Annexes & related documents

1.1 EN_AfCFTA_Treaty_Annexes 1_9_signed 16 May 2018	E
1.1.2 EN_AfCFTA_ApIV_An2_ROO	E
2. EN-AfCFTA-Protocol-on-Competition-Policy-Feb2023	E
3. EN_Protocol_IPR_Feb2023	E
4. EN-AfCFTA-Protocol-on-Investment-Feb2023	E
5. EN_-PROTOCOL-ON-DIGITAL-TRADE-Feb2024	E
6. EN-PROTOCOL-ON-WOMEN-AND-YOUTH-IN-TRADE_Feb2024	E

Consideration status:	Awaiting data from the Parties

Related documents

Document series: WT/COMTD/RTA27

Document type	Symbol	Language
Notification (G)	WT/COMTD/RTA27/N/1/Rev.1	E F S

RTA Provisions Glossary

For details on these provisions, please consult the Glossary.

Last modified on: 20/06/2025

Topics
	All quantitative import restrictions prohibited
	Rules of Origin (RoO)
		Change of Tariff Classification Criteria (CTC)
		Regional Value Content Criteria (RVC)
		Other Criteria(s)
		De minimis rules
		Cumulation among Parties
	Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS)
		Specifically reaffirms or incorporates WTO SPS Agreement
		Transparency obligations (SPS)
	Technical regulations, standards, technical barriers to trade (TBT)
		Specifically reaffirms or incorporates WTO TBT Agreement
		Transparency obligations (TBT)
	Safeguard Mechanisms (Goods)
		Specifically reaffirms or incorporates WTO Safeguard Agreement
		RTA-specific safeguard measures always permitted
		Other Special safeguards
	Balance-of-payments measures (Goods)
	Anti-Dumping measures
		Specifically reaffirms or incorporates WTO Agreement on Anti-Dumping
	Countervailing measures
		Specifically reaffirms or incorporates WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing measures
	Denial of benefits
	Services
		Positive list (Services)
		MFN provision (Services)
	Rendez-Vous/Review/Evolutionary clause (services)
	Investment Liberalization Provisions
		MFN provision (Investment)
		National Treatment with regard to the entry of investment (establishment)
	Other Investment Provisions
		Investment Protection
		Investment Promotion
	Rendez-Vous clause (Investment)
	Provisions on capital transfers
	Domestic Regulation


	Mutual Recognition
	Balance-of-payments measures (Services)
	Movement of Natural Persons
	Sector-specific chapter/section or other legal instrument (Services)
	General Exceptions
	Security Exceptions
	Accession
		Accession open to some third parties only
	Dispute Settlement (DS)
		Political Settlement / Consultations only
		Ad hoc Adjudicative Process
		Exclusive use of forum chosen
	Intellectual property rights
		Copyrights and neighbouring rights
		Patent
		Trademarks
		Industrial Designs
		Layout-Designs (topographies) of integrated circuits
		Geographical Indications (GIs)
		Traditional Knowledge
		Enforcement
	Competition
		Adopts or maintains competition law
	Provisions on designated monopolies or State Owned Enterprises (SOEs)
	Environment
		No relaxation of environmental laws
	Labour
		No relaxation of labour laws
	Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
		Cooperation
	E-Commerce
		Customs duty exemption for Digital Products Transmitted Electronically
		Internal taxes permitted for digital products
		Transfer of source code prohibited
		Location requirements for computing facilities prohibited
		Consumer protection provisions
		Paperless trading or e-signatures
	Gender
		Chapter on Gender
		Cooperation between the Parties

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