Monopolies continue to dominate world trade by controlling global production and distribution chains. Neither free trade nor fair trade has transformed this system; the recent rise in nativism and pseudo‐protectionism has not, and cannot, address these problems either. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the largest free trade area in the world, promises to be different. AfCFTA rejects classical, neoclassical, and Marxist theories of trade, appealing, instead, to non‐aligned pan‐Africanism. It advocates continental free trade as a way to overcome the lingering effects of slavery, colonialism, and neocolonialism. However, its exclusive focus on continental Africa, its disinterest in systemic redistribution, and encouragement of the private appropriation of socially created land rents prevents AfCFTA from achieving its goals. In fact, AfCFTA might actually foster inequality—progress alongside of poverty—and in so doing, undermine the very essence of this trade regime. What Henry George (1886) called “true free trade,” a theory based on making land common by socializing land rent, offers a more promising and powerful model through which to achieve the pan‐African agenda. Indeed, only true free trade can definitively decolonize global trade.

中文翻译：

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非洲大陆自由贸易区

垄断通过控制全球生产和分销链继续主导世界贸易。自由贸易和公平贸易都没有改变这一制度。最近，本土主义和伪保护主义的兴起也没有也不能解决这些问题。非洲大陆自由贸易区（AfCFTA）是世界上最大的自由贸易区，有望有所不同。AfCFTA拒绝古典，新古典和马克思主义的贸易理论，而是呼吁不结盟的泛非主义。它主张大陆自由贸易是克服奴隶制，殖民主义和新殖民主义的挥之不去的影响的一种方式。但是，由于它只关注非洲大陆，对系统重新分配不感兴趣，并且鼓励私人占用社会创造的地租，这使非洲自由贸易协定无法实现其目标。事实上，非洲自由贸易协定实际上可能助长不平等现象（与贫穷并存的是进步），这样做会破坏这种贸易制度的本质。亨利·乔治（Henry George，1886年）所称的“真正的自由贸易”是一种通过使土地租金社会化而使土地变得普遍的理论，它为实现泛非议程提供了一种更有希望和更强大的模式。确实，只有真正的自由贸易才能最终使全球贸易非殖民化。