Africa’s Trade Agency in a Fragmented Landscape: The Promise and Limits of the AfCFTA in Africa–EU Trade

Regional economic integration has long been recognized as a key strategy for enhancing trade, fostering economic development, and strengthening the bargaining power of developing regions. In this context, the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) marks a critical juncture in Africa’s economic trajectory. Beyond its aim to expand intra-African trade by harmonizing trade and economic policies across the continent, the AfCFTA also holds the potential of bolstering Africa’s negotiating position with external partners such as the European Union. At present, Africa–EU trade is governed by an overlapping network of bilateral and regional agreements with individual African countries or regional economic communities. The advent of the AfCFTA thus raises a critical question: to what extent can the agreement serve as a platform for a unified, inter-continent trade agreement with external partners such as the EU? Drawing on theories of regionalism, case studies of the EAC, ECOWAS, and Kenya—whose unilateral actions exemplify tensions between national and regional policies—and the history of Africa-EU trade, this article examines whether the AfCFTA can serve as a foundation for a unified African trade policy position. It concludes that while the AfCFTA creates a unique opportunity to consolidate Africa’s voice in global trade, major hurdles must be overcome, including divergent economic interests among member states, the need for deeper policy harmonization, and the complex challenges involved in establishing a unified customs framework.