So far, all the studies conducted on the African Continental Free Trade (AfCFTA) concur on the fact that the implementation of this agreement will deliver significant economic advantages to Africa, some forecasts suggesting that the African economy will grow of nearly 10% within 2043. However, much will depend on the level of preparedness of the AfCFTA State Parties to put in place appropriate AfCFTA implementation measures that support the development of economic and industrial sectors that are key for their economies, and on their ability to mitigate potential risks that this implementation involves. To this end, a complete toolkit has been developed within the Accelerated Industrial Development for Africa (AIDA) initiative to support African States in these efforts.

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The concept of “accumulation/cumulation” or “cumulative rules of origin” allows countries which participate to a free trade agreement (FTA) or a trade arrangement (e.g., a unilateral trade concession scheme like AGOA or the Generalized System of Preference), to share production and jointly comply with the relevant rules of origin provisions. In other words, it allows products of one country to be further processed or added to products in another party of that preferential trade agreement or arrangement, as if they originate in the latter party. In this way, the production may be aggregated with other countries’ inputs, thus offering additional opportunities to source input materials. This essentially widens the definition of originating products and provides flexibility to develop economic relations between countries within a preferential trade scheme. Accordingly, through the concept of accumulation/cumulation in a free trade agreement, the use of input materials and manufacturing processes within that FTA is encouraged. This promotes regional economic integration amongst members of a free trade area.

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