The African Continental Free Trade Area is launched, but "everything remains to be done"

The challenge is colossal. The African Continental Free Trade Area (Zlec) will eventually become the largest single market in the world. For now, a symbolic first phase was launched on Sunday, July 7, at the African Union (AU) summit in Niamey, Niger.

Ultimately, the goal is to organize free trade across the African continent for at least 90% of products. Pierre Jacquemot, a researcher at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS) and former French Ambassador to Kenya, Ghana and DR Congo, talks about the challenges facing African leaders. The latter gave themselves one year to concretize this singular economic union with a birth scheduled for July 1, 2020.

France 24: How is Zlec innovative for the African continent ?

Pierre Jacquemot: There are already eight interregional free trade zones, some of which are very advanced, such as in East Africa or Southern Africa. The governments of African countries have worked so far on a limited territorial scale. The major innovation lies in the lifting of customs duties, which will concern a huge continental area stretching from Algiers to Cape Town [South Africa] and Dakar [Senegal] to Djibouti. Zlec brings together 54 of the 55 African Union countries - with Eritrea being the only country not to join.

The project is not new, it refers to pan-Africanism of the 1960s. But today, it is signed and it is already a big step. It must be said that the situation is new, because African economies are doing much better since 2000, thanks to the cancellation of massive debts by international donors. Many countries are experiencing significant growth. And it is easier to initiate reforms when one is not in a situation of crisis and high debt - even if the economic situation is not satisfactory in all respects, especially in terms of basic needs of the people.

What could hinder this major integration project ?

Beyond the technical problems of harmonization of trade rules, there are political tensions. For example, those between Morocco and Algeria result in the closure of the border between the two countries, which requires to go through Spain for trade.

Trade also suffers from insecurity in some regions such as the Sahel, particularly between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, in the Great Lakes region, or in a country like the Central African Republic, far from being secure.

The third big challenge is logistical. Today, it costs between three and six times cheaper to bring a container by the sea from Shanghai to Douala [Cameroon], than to transport the same container on the road between Douala and N'Djamena [Chad]. Most of the infrastructure is geared towards exporting goods outside the African continent, it is a colonial legacy. It will therefore be necessary to completely refocus the flows of goods within Africa.

The challenge is significant because the road and rail infrastructures are defective. Added to this is the persistence of abnormal practices that further increase transportation costs, such as inadequate cash withdrawals by police officers or customs officers. The intensification of trade between African countries will have to go through what are called development corridors.

Is Zlec not likely to favor the most advanced economies to the detriment of poorer countries ?

In theory, free trade favors everyone, but when the conditions of mobility and production are not equal, there are losers. The disadvantaged countries are the sixteen most landlocked African countries because they do not have access to the sea.

We had the same problem in Europe, with Ireland, Portugal or the Eastern countries that did not have the same level of development as the Netherlands, Germany or France. This is why we have put in place the principle of solidarity which makes it possible to finance infrastructures. But this question of solidarity within the Zlec is not yet really addressed.

On July 7, some countries like Nigeria showed reluctance before finally signing at the last minute ? What do they fear ?

The principle of Zlec is to promote "made in Africa". But we need to be sure that the products traded are of African origin ... and this is the problem in Nigeria. It will be necessary to define a "clause of origin". The rule will probably be around a minimum of 50% of the African-made product.

Nigeria and South Africa, the two largest African economies to build an industrial base, would not want to be threatened by imports from neighboring countries, but whose content is of Asian, Brazilian, Turkish origin or European.

At the AU summit in Niamey, African heads of state set themselves the challenge of successfully creating this Zlec, but everything remains to be done. Beyond the beautiful photo taken in the enthusiasm of a summit, beyond this friendly voluntarism, it will then take action and manifest a political will to meet all these challenges in the long term. It will take 10 years minimum. We see it today with the European construction, it takes time. More than 60 years after the Treaty of Rome, we are far from having completely completed the European Union.