**2. Background and structure of the AfCFTA agreement**

After decades of emphasis on sub-regional trade blocs in Africa, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement was finally signed and launched in 2018. The key objective of this agreement is to create a single African continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments, and thus pave the way for accelerating the establishment of the Customs Union. As an auxiliary but important objective, the agreement also hopes to boost Africa's trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa's common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations. The specific objectives of the AfCFTA are:


The AfCFTA is governed by five (5) operational instruments, namely, rules of origin; the online negotiating forum; the monitoring and elimination of non-tariff barriers; a digital payments system, and the African Trade Observatory. Challenges in the implementation of any of the instruments can affect the utilization of the tariff and general trade provisions under the AfCFTA. For example, complex criteria used to determine the national source of a product and how the source of intermediate products used in production are treated have impacted the extent to which firms on the continent will pursue and will be involved in the AfCFTA agenda. Therefore, procedures for the issuance of certificates of origin must follow smooth and efficient processes, at the same time minimize the risk of re-exports. Improved ICT infrastructure on the continent is imperative therefore for the

effective functioning of the online negotiation forum, obtaining online certificates of origin, the digital payments system, and the African Trade Observatory.

The broader institutional framework for the implementation, administration, facilitation, monitoring, and evaluation of the AfCFTA consists of the Assembly, the Council of Ministers, the Committee of Senior Trade Officials; and the Secretariat. For the latter, Ghana was selected to host the AfCFTA Secretariat and the Secretariat's key role as stated in the agreement, is to provide administrative support for the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement, such as convening meetings, monitoring and evaluating the implementation process, and other duties assigned to it by the Committee of Senior Officials, Council of Ministers, and the AU Assembly.

The AfCFTA is also accompanied by other continental initiatives such as the protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Right to Residence and Right to Establishment, and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) [18]. In a nutshell, the AfCFTA arrangement is expected to create the biggest free trade area in the world, based on the number of nations that have signed and ratified the agreement. The settlement therefore will join 1.3 billion individuals across 55 nations, with a consolidated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) esteemed at US\$3.4 trillion.

The expectation for this agreement is quite huge. It is expected that approximately 30 million individuals will be lifted out of poverty. Accordingly, it is expected that over-all from the agreement, the agreement will bring about \$16.1 billion in welfare gains [19]. It is also argued that the full accomplishment of AfCFTA would reshape markets and economies across the region and increase services, manufacturing, and natural resources sectors, and subsequently increase the real income gains by 7 percent or approximately US\$450 billion.1
