Abstract: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a promising and massive project for the African continent. According to international economists, the AfCFTA will be the largest free trade area over the world after the World Trade Organization (WTO). The AfCFTA aims to create a single free-market at the continent level for goods and services, in order to enhance the movement of capital and facilitate the movement of natural and legal persons. Indeed, the idea of creating an African continental free trade area began to haunt the African leaders and decision-makers since a long time ago and the idea was discussed in more than one forum. As a continuation of historical resolve, the fifty-five member states of the African Union decided to establish the AfCFTA. In January 2012, the decision was taken during the eighteenth regular session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Then followed by intense summits, meetings, and actions, including high-level negotiations, until the operational phase was announced on the date of July 27, 2019, at the 12th Extraordinary African Union Summit in Niamey, the capital of Niger which confirmed the continuation of the procedures for the ratification of treaty documents by the Member States. It is a matter of concern that if comprehensive policies and preferential transactions are not developed for economies that are classified as endangered, The AfCFTA could become a force promoting economic differences and political crises rather than being an effective and fruitful economic force. Therefore, it is extremely important for each participated country in the agreement to prepare and adopt an effective participatory institutional architecture to avoid damaging the domestic economy. On the other hand, to increase the impact of business deals, industry policies, especially for SMEs and manufacturing industries, must be developed. So that it can focus on productivity, competition, diversification, overcoming economic complexities and raising the level of managerial competencies. Moreover, countries participating in the continental free trade agreement should introduce policies that address the concerns of trade unions and state-specific financial and economic institutions, encourage healthy competition without killing the spirit of local firms and ensure strict commitment to waste disposal, intellectual property protection, and other necessary measures. However, the wide scope of the agreement and variety of African economies has led to some problems with effective management methods. As a consequence, the implementation of the AfCFTA has been divided into four phases, namely; the preparatory phase, the negotiation phase, the operational phase, and then the launch phase. Finally, the AfCFTA supposed to be launched on 01 July 2020. Unfortunately, the circumstances of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic have caused to cancel this date and no other date has been set yet.
الملخص: حظِيَت مدينة كيغالي عاصمة رواندا بشرف الإعلان عن بروتوكولات معاهدة إنشاء (الجماعة الاقتصادية الإفريقية)، المتعلقة بحرية حركة الأشخاص والحقّ في الإقامة وإنشاء مؤسسات مالية وتأسيس شركات أعمال، وذلك في قمة استثنائية للقادة الأفارقة حول (منطقة التجارة الحرة القارية الإفريقية)، في الفترة من 17 إلى 21 مارس 2018م. منطقة التجارة الحرة هي شكلٌ من أشكال التكتُّل التجاري بين دولتين فأكثر، يهدُف إلى تقليل الحواجز والقيود الجمركية، وغيرها من الممارسات التجارية المتمثلة في السلع والخدمات، أو إزالتها تماماً؛ من أجل زيادة حجم التبادل التجاري، ودفع عجلة النمو الاقتصادي بين الدول الأعضاء. وتهدف هذه الدراسة إلى: تسليط الضوء على منطقة التجارة الحرة القارية الإفريقية، التي أَطْلَقها الاتحاد الإفريقيّ مُؤخّراً من أجل دفع عجلة التنمية الشاملة في إفريقيا؛ تمهيداً لتحقيق التكامل الاقتصادي والاندماج الكامل بين الدول الإفريقية، وذلك للتعرف عليها عن قرب وبشكلٍ أفضل.
