Abstract

NEVES DA ROCHA, António José. African Continental Free Trade Area: an Option for Regional Integration?. Econ. y Desarrollo [online]. 2024, vol.168, n.1  Epub Feb 21, 2024. ISSN 0252-8584.

Since the emergence of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in March 2018, which promises to become the largest economic integration area in the world with 54 member countries, exaggerated optimism has been generated, especially by different international organizations formerly critics like the World Bank, who now highly praise the benefits of the regional integration process. This article contributes to the understanding of the complexity in the implementation of this area, which delves into the analysis of the background, potential, scope and challenges of the AfCFTA. It is argued that this new attempt at regional integration is not very different or distant from neoliberal ideology and seems to be part of open regionalism that tends to favor outward integration, which is why it does not contribute to the solution of the enormous problems of underdevelopment, poverty and social injustice on the continent.

Keywords : AfCFTA; Africa; challenges; regional integration; potentialities; open regionalism.

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