Trade and tariff analytics
2026-04-26
10 minute read
10 sources
AfCFTA Execution 2026: From Tariff Schedules to Settled Trades
Six years after the Agreement entered into force, the African Continental Free Trade Area is moving from text to transactions: the Guided Trade Initiative is widening, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System is now live across more than sixteen central banks, and the rules of origin file for manufactured goods finally cleared.
The AfCFTA entered into force on 30 May 2019 and now organizes 54 of 55 African Union members into a single market of roughly 1.4 billion people. Execution in 2026 rests on four moving parts: the Guided Trade Initiative, which expanded from eight pilot countries in 2022 to a wider Phase 2 cohort by 2025; the Pan-African Payment and Settle...