AfCFTA at Five: A $3.4 Trillion Market Still Blocked by Internal Trade Barriers

A five-year audit of the African Continental Free Trade Area finds that persistent cross-border trade barriers continue to block intra-African commerce from reaching the bloc's $3.4 trillion market potential. The review identifies implementation gaps and non-tariff barriers as the primary obstacles to meaningful trade integration. The findings add evidence to the structural critique of AfCFTA's execution pace raised in prior reporting on economic xenophobia as a trade risk.