The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) - The Case for Accelerating the Implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 in Africa

Abstract

The success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) may be prevented by structural constraints, which currently face the  continent. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 of the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development was designed to promote the building of resilient infrastructure and to foster inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and innovation. Achieving that goal should contribute towards the removal of the structural constraints and to the success of the AfCFTA. This article therefore aims to analyse intra-African trade with a focus on how accelerating the implementing SDG 9 can transform and boost such trade. The main finding was that despite AfCFTA’s potential to boost intra-African trade, most countries have made little progress towards achieving SDG 9. The article therefore recommends that African countries should adopt a more integrated approach to both the AfCFTA and SDG 9, by scaling up on and investing significantly in the implementation of the goal.