The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AcFTA) was launched on 1 July 2021. In this discussion we reflect on the need to include the informal sector within the AcFTA. The informal sector here refers to the unregistered, unlicensed and largely businesses operating outside the purview of regulatory authority. Informal businesses tend to be a majority in Africa. In an earlier discussion we covered the informal sector and cost of doing business for such businesses. You can find the discussion here.
In this discussion the panelists note the following key things:
- It is people who trade and not countries. Therefore, noting that a majority of businesses in Africa are informal, there might be need for a protocol within AcFTA on informal trade.
- The challenges that informal businesses face in cross border trade.
The panelists shared very good insights in this discussion on need to include the ‘Informal sector within AcFTA’. You can listen the podcast version on – https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-cn2u6-10f53c6.
You can find more podcast episodes from us here.
