AfCFTA: the remedy to an enduring mischief?

The pervasive legacy of colonialism and neo-colonialism is steadfast. This mischief has been and is afflicting African trade and development. Its influence has permeated the ideological foundation of African integration and has been inimical to growth on the continent. The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement is the African Union's hopeful attempt to remedy this enduring mischief. The scope of AfCFTA indicates that State Parties have adopted the multidimensional approach of developmental regionalism to remedy Africa's developmental challenges. However, to fulfil the precepts of this model, State Parties will have to engage in further deliberations to expand AfCFTA's scope and tune it to the nuances of African developmental ills. Furthermore, in its current form, AfCFTA fails to resolve historical implementation hurdles and overlooks foreboding supranational crises. AfCFTA rests on Pan-African idealism and not pragmatism. Thus, if the implementation challenges and supranational crises are left unaddressed, Pan-African solidarity will fracture and State Parties will retreat into their sovereignty. Therefore, idealism must be balanced with pragmatism to forge robust collectivism to drive the remedy of Africa's enduring mischief. Only time will tell whether AfCFTA is a meretricious symbol of integration or a concerted and substantive effort to develop and unite Africa