ABSTRACT African governments signed the largest trade agreement, the Continental Free Trade Agreement in 2018 in order to boost intra-trade thereby improving economic welfare of African citizens. This paper provides an overview of the obstacles to the African economic integration process experienced in the past and the possible solutions. The paper discussed the theoretical postulations and empirically reviewed some African experiences. Some theoretical aspects included not only the traditional international trade theories but also other non-orthodox theories such as organizational theories which include intergovernmentalism, neofunctionalism and neorealism. Empirically, Africa’s economic integration challenges range from economic such as polarization of benefits towards larger economies at the expense of smaller economies, an unclear model of distributing welfare gains (or losses), traditional trade models which do not stimulate intra-African trade, several non-tariff and institutional barriers among other factors. Other challenges include lack of political will to implement signed trade contracts and political instability in some economic regions which results in small and fragmented markets. The paper also discussed the legal challenges such as lack of standardization on products and procedures which result in subjectivity in interpretation of trade instruments. The paper made recommendations to each identified challenge in order to make the CFTA more effective.

中文翻译：

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鉴于非洲大陆自由贸易区，概述了非洲经济一体化进程的障碍

摘要非洲各国政府于2018年签署了最大的贸易协定-《大陆自由贸易协定》，以促进内部贸易，从而改善非洲公民的经济福利。本文概述了过去经历的非洲经济一体化进程的障碍以及可能的解决方案。本文讨论了理论上的假设，并从经验上回顾了非洲的一些经验。一些理论方面不仅包括传统的国际贸易理论，还包括其他非正统的理论，例如组织理论，其中包括政府间主义，新功能主义和新现实主义。从经验上讲，非洲的经济一体化挑战从经济的发展（例如利益的两极分化）到较大的经济体，以牺牲较小的经济体为代价，分配福利收益（或损失）的模型不明确，传统的贸易模型（不会刺激非洲内部贸易），几种非关税和体制壁垒以及其他因素。其他挑战包括缺乏执行已签订的贸易合同的政治意愿以及某些经济区的政治不稳定，导致市场规模小而分散。本文还讨论了法律挑战，例如产品和程序缺乏标准化，导致贸易工具解释的主观性。该文件针对每个已发现的挑战提出了建议，以使CFTA更加有效。其他挑战包括缺乏执行已签订的贸易合同的政治意愿以及某些经济区的政治不稳定，导致市场规模小而分散。本文还讨论了法律挑战，例如产品和程序缺乏标准化，导致贸易工具解释的主观性。该文件针对每个已发现的挑战提出了建议，以使CFTA更加有效。其他挑战包括缺乏执行已签订的贸易合同的政治意愿以及某些经济区的政治不稳定，导致市场规模小而分散。本文还讨论了法律挑战，例如产品和程序缺乏标准化，导致贸易工具解释的主观性。该文件针对每个已发现的挑战提出了建议，以使CFTA更加有效。