South Africa Trade Profile: Africa’s most diverse economy

Much ado has been made about the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). The trading agreement which came into effect in 2019 - is meant to create larger markets for citizens and entrepreneurs in Africa’s 55 states by reducing barriers to trade and so forth and so on. We’ve heard most of the rhetoric around it by now and me repeating it here would be unfair to 85% of readers. The 15% who have no idea what it is, should refer to our numerous articles on the trade agreement here. 

“The overall mandate of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of approximately US$ 3.4 trillion.” - Africa Union | AfCFTA website

Over a series of articles, we will be detailing the nature of trade in Southern African countries trying to establish the gaps that the oft-proposed trading agreement could fill once countries more actively enforce the pact. The fourth country we will look at in this regard is South Africa.

Read Zambia’s trade profile: The Copper Curtain