The grand vision of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), officially launched on January 1, 2021, has seen a rocky start. While AfCFTA trade commenced “on paper” on 1th January 2021, it’s only the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) that kick-started the process, in October 2022. This pilot program, initially encompassing eight states representing the continent's five key regions (North, South, East, West, and Central) and a focused selection of commodities, aims to catalyze the implementation of the agreement. The program's objective is to expedite the operationalization of the AfCFTA agreement through the establishment of a centralized coordination mechanism designed to facilitate initial AfCFTA preferential trade transactions. Despite the GTI has significantly expanded its reach since its launch, it remains a limited and temporary mechanism, designed to be phased out as full-fledged AfCFTA preferential trade will gain momentum. But the critical determinant for this transition and indeed, the ultimate efficacy of the AfCFTA - a recent note from the International Monetary Fund warns - resides in the capacity of the continent's customs administrations to rapidly adapt to the new trade framework.
