The African Continental Free Trade Area: Toward a New Legal Model for Trade and Development

This Article begins with an assessment of the AfCFTA as an alternative model for trade and development law, evaluating the agreement in the historical and evolving context of S&D and examining its role in shaping a new normative approach to Special and Differential Treatment (S&D). The authors argue that the AfCFTA, represents a shift from using S&D as a largely defensive trade approach to one that positions S&D as an affirmative tool for achieving sustainable development through the design and implementation of the rules of trade themselves, while still maintaining flexibility for countries that need it. This new approach may finally replace the old trade paradigm of the ”haves and have nots” with a system in which trade rules can be designed to benefit all.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341684936_THE_AFRICAN_CONTINENTAL_FREE_TRADE_AREA_TOWARD_A_NEW_LEGAL_MODEL_FOR_TRADE_AND_DEVELOPMENT_FORTHCOMING_51_Geo_J_Int’l_L_4_2020