Negotiating the AfCFTA in the Shadow of International and Regional Struggle for Power: A Caution!

In this piece, I reflect on the contemporary  international  and  regional  struggle for  power  or influence and their potential implications for the Agreement for the Establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). At the international level, Africa continues to be a battlefield of the struggle for global power, most recently, among a triad of countries: China, Russia and the United States of America. Regionally, the negotiation and eventual implementation of the AfCFTA will be embedded in a complex socio-economic and political dynamic that dates back to  colonialism . These dynamics and the paradigm of trade alliances that emerge from them are important factors that African leaders and policy experts involved in the negotiation of the AfCFTA must be proactive in addressing. In an era of increasing  mega-regional trade agreements , the imminent completion of Phase I negotiations (involving issues such as  trade in goods and services ), and the anticipated commencement of  Phase II Negotiations  is a watershed for regional economic integration in Africa.