Resolution No. 19/2022 ratifying the Agreement creating the African Continental Free Trade Area and respective Protocols.

This Regulation approves the ratification of the Agreement creating the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and respective Protocols. The general objectives of the AfCFTA are: (a) create a single market for goods and services, facilitated by the movement of people, in order to deepen the economic integration of the African continent and in accordance with the Pan-African Vision of "a Peaceful Africa, Prosperous and Integrated" in Agenda 2063; (b) create a liberalized market for goods and services, through successive rounds of negotiations; (c) contribute to the movement of capital and individuals, facilitating investments based on initiatives and developments in the States Parties and in the RECs; (d) create a continental customs union at a later stage; (e) promote and achieve sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, gender equality and structural transformation of States Parties; (f) reinforce the competitiveness of the economies of the States Parties in the continental and world markets; (g) promote industrial development through the development of regional value chains, agricultural development and food security; (h) resolve challenges related to multiple membership, as well as accelerate regional and continental integration processes.
The Agreement establishes that States Parties must: (a) progressively eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in goods; (b) progressively liberalize trade in services; (c) cooperate in the field of investment, intellectual property rights and competition policy; (d) cooperate in all areas related to trade; (e) cooperate in customs matters and in the implementation of trade facilitation measures; (f) establish a mechanism for the resolution of disputes relating to rights and obligations; (g) establish and maintain an institutional framework for the implementation and administration of the AfCFTA.