AfCFTA AS AN ANTI-COLONIAL PROJECT: SOME ASPECTS OF TRADE AND INVESTMENT

Moses Antony Odhiambo and Tomasz Milej

Abstract

With the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA Agreement) in place, the continent looks forward to significant
transformation in its international economic relations, hoping for a shift from
specialisation in export of primary commodities to competitive diversification
of exports. The question, therefore, becomes how AfCFTA envisions trade
and investment in Africa within a non-colonial context. The following article,
first, demonstrates the problem with the prominence of primary commodity
exportation from Africa through the theory of unequal exchange. Second,
the article seeks to establish how creation and integration of regional value
chains (RVCs) will transform this non-profitable commodity structure of exports from African economies. Third, the article will also investigate the role
of the AfCFTA in attracting investment flows to African economies without
overprotection of foreign investors while promoting intra-African RVCs. The
article establishes that colonial underpinnings have imposed on Africa the
role of producer of raw materials in a manufacturing global economy. The
AfCFTA can therefore been seen as an anti-colonial project that envisages
increase in value-addition activities. Hence, it is anticipated that the establishment of a single market under the AfCFTA would reduce the hitherto
high cost of intra-African trade.