
African leaders launch landmark 55-nation trade zone - rexbee
https://m.dw.com/en/african-leaders-launch-landmark-55-nation-trade-zone/a-49503393
======
dmix
> The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is a trade agreement
> which is in force between 24 African Union member states,[1][8][9][10] with
> the goal of creating a single market followed by free movement and a single-
> currency union.

Wikipedia says they are also looking to create an Africa currency.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Continental_Free_Tra...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Continental_Free_Trade_Agreement?wprov=sfti1)

It seems the news today is Nigeria (the biggest African country) signing it

~~~
wsc981
Ghadaffi wanted to create an African currency as well [0]. I wonder if the
African countries will now succeed. I feel it will definitely be in their
interest as it seems currently France has control over African monetary policy
[1] which (I feel) could still be considered some form of colonialism.

\---

[0]: [https://medium.com/@evantaxi/6-years-ago-today-the-us-
helped...](https://medium.com/@evantaxi/6-years-ago-today-the-us-helped-
murder-gaddafi-to-stop-the-creation-of-gold-backed-currency-275c2c57509c)

[1]: [https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/africa/CFA-franc-
Franc...](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/africa/CFA-franc-France-
Africa-controversy/4552902-4950882-r08s4t/index.html)

~~~
dotancohen
I'm glad to see this mentioned. Ghadaffi had big plans for uniting Africa,
which would have been horrible for the Europeans who have been plundering the
continent for centuries.

I've always felt that was the real reason the he was ousted. Other national
leaders, both in and outside Africa, have done far worse than him yet have
never been invaded.

~~~
growtofill
Given that decolonization ended more than 40 years ago, "the Europeans who
have been plundering the continent for centuries" are either dead or retired.
How is African countries reaching an agreement would be horrible to anyone,
including them?

~~~
alluro2
The notion of individuals being responsible for exploiting Africa and them
being dead meaning the exploitation no longer exists is like saying USA ceased
to exist when founding fathers passed away.

Newer history of Africa is almost exclusively defined by consequences of
external manipulation, driven by financial interests.

In general, you can look up the definition of "neocolonialism".

~~~
rayiner
That’s true to an extent, but “almost exclusively” gives very little agency to
the people. India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were colonies until the middle of
the 20th century.

------
luckydata
Hope this helps Africa develop its economy in a way that's positive for the
people that live there, all of them. Not sold on the idea of a single
currency, that hasn't worked so hot for Europe, especially the weaker
economies like the mediterranean countries.

Aren't they repeating the same mistake Paul Krugman refers to as "original sin
of monetary policy"?

[https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/original-sin-
an...](https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/original-sin-and-the-euro-
crisis)

~~~
lopmotr
It's much worse for Africa than the EU. Here are the ratios of GDP per capita
of the highest to lowest states in each region, excluding outliers DC and
Luxembourg:

US: 2:1 (Massachusetts $66,000 : Mississippi: $32,000)

Eurozone: 4:1 (Ireland $71,000 : Latvia $16,000)

Africa (PPP): 50:1 (Equatorial Guinea $35,000 : Central African Republic $700)

CAR isn't even an outlier. There are several African countries with less than
$1000 GDP(PPP) per capita and several with over $10,000. So it's much more
diverse than the Eurozone.

~~~
runarberg
According to wikipedia Guam has a GDP per capita of $30,500 and American Samoa
has an even lower GDP per capita of $13,000 so 5:1 is closer to reality for
the US.

That said. The US is not the only country to oficially use the US dollar.
Among others, Ecuador has a GDP per capita of just under $12,000 and uses the
US dollar, Palau $16,000, East Timor $5,500, and lowest are Marshall Islands
and Micronesia both with GDP per capita under $4,000 bringing the ratio closer
to 1:18.

Also there are plenty of counties with even lower GDP that uses the dollar
unofficially, so I don’t see a problem with a high GDP per capita ratio.

Edit: Equatorial Guinea is also an outlier with high GDP and low population.
We could arbitrarily decide to include San Francisco in the US example with a
GDP per person of over $100,000 bringing the US ratio up to 1:7 and the US
dollar ratio to 1:25

~~~
guaka
It's not as if most people are rich in Equatorial Guinea. It's an appalling
outlier in terms of inequality, even on such an unequal continent as Africa.

"Only about half of the country’s population has access to clean drinking
water, overcrowded living condition is—surprisingly given the country’s low
population density—rampant and very few children enjoy the advantages of urban
life such as education, medical services and recreational facilities."
[https://borgenproject.org/equatorial-guinea-
poverty/](https://borgenproject.org/equatorial-guinea-poverty/)

I tried to find data about GINI for the country but the World Bank and the UN
don't have anything. [http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/income-gini-
coefficient](http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/income-gini-coefficient)

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Mengkudulangsat
Wow. This is a great boon for their capital markets. I wonder if we'll see a
Wall Street / London / Singapore of Africa soon!

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX0ozxrZlEQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX0ozxrZlEQ)

~~~
barry-cotter
Realistically it’s probably London. You can fly from Cape Town in 12 hours and
they already have the expertise and trust. If it’s an African city Lagos or
Johannesburg.

~~~
Mengkudulangsat
You can say that about Tokyo in the 1980s, but Singapore pulled through.

~~~
barry-cotter
In Tokyo in the 80s, and probably now, the median financial professional could
not work in English, and that’s probably still true now. Tokyo has an enormous
and liquid financial market but Japanese is not a regional language, never
mind a global one. Paris has a better shot at being the go to place for
African finance than Tokyo did of being Asia’s.

------
cy6erlion
"History teaches us that unity is strength, and cautions us to submerge and
overcome our differences in the quest for common goals, to strive, with all
our combined strength, for the path to true African brotherhood and unity.”

_ Haile Selassie

~~~
AnthonyMouse
People who preach unity are people who wish to consolidate power, because they
are the same thing. Unity tells you nothing about what principles you are to
unite under.

~~~
inflatableDodo
People who preach disunity have a pretty solid record in trying to consolidate
power as well. Divide Et Impera.

~~~
AnthonyMouse
Which is why it can make sense to have a common defense even if you're
otherwise independently governed.

------
jedberg
Recently someone put forward the theory that now that globalism is dead, there
would instead be multiple competing factions with which countries would align.
They proposed that the factions would be: The USA, the EU, and China.

Looks like we may now need to add the AU to the list.

~~~
joyjoyjoy
"Looks like we may now need to add the AU to the list. "

Honestly, I doubt it.

The more interesting question is: Who is Russia going to align with? No
country can rule the world that does not rule Russia, the heartland.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geographical_Pivot_of_Hist...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geographical_Pivot_of_History)

PS: Thanks for downvoting. Please show that you are not familiar with major
concepts that shaped many of the last conflicts we have seen. Take this as a
start:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Chessboard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Chessboard)

~~~
ceejayoz
The idea that the geopolitics of the world in 1904 are the same as that of
2019 is silly. It's quite clear that the US is no longer an "outlying island"
on the world stage.

------
jorblumesea
I wonder how much China was involved in this. We may never know but this feels
like a play they would push. That way, China can form a "TPP of the East"
easily without having to negotiate with countries individually. Lock out the
West and extract natural resources at their leisure.

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Alex3917
Much like when the EU was created, this news is apparently being almost
completely buried by the U.S. media.

~~~
bluejekyll
Don’t apply malice where it can be explained by most Americans not paying
attention to anything outside the US.

~~~
squiggleblaz
And it's not hugely different than Europeans. I mean, when I lived there how
many told me that Tasmania wasn't a part of Australia or they were downright
shocked that Christmas is in summer like they've never heard that before. You
don't even need to follow anything to have a clue about that.

------
nemo44x
Now is the time to put pressure on China with regards to human rights and
trade. With this organization this African Union has the potential to open a
huge market of labor and consumers with ultra high growth potential.

This can be a huge win for classical liberalism.

~~~
nneonneo
This African Union (AU?) is likely going to be quite friendly with China given
Chinese investment in the area, so I doubt they'll be the ones to put pressure
on China.

~~~
klipt
The African Union (a political organization not centered around free trade)
has existed for a long time:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union)

This African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is just one of the AU's
recent initiatives.

------
aaron695
It's just an extension to the current free trade zone?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Free_Trade_Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Free_Trade_Zone)

~~~
Jeff_Brown
Indeed -- can anybody provide more details on the agreement? The only policy
detail the article lists is that the deal eliminates "most tariffs". Is that
the entirety of the project? Are the goods for which tariffs remain critical
ones like oil, minerals or food? How is "most tariffs" even measured --as
classes of goods? trade volume in dollars?

------
electriclove
Get organized, improve, build infrastructure (take help from but don't forfeit
your land to China).. all great!

Single currency? Please don't!! You are giving up control of your monetary
policy. It will be another EU.

~~~
tim333
Forfeiting your land isn't good but selling some for a fair price and using
the money sensibly can be one of the fastest ways of getting wealthy.

~~~
electriclove
Selling your port? [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-
lank...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-lanka-
port.html)

------
EGreg
This is what Africa always needed. Large federation or empire. If they had
large empires hundreds of years earlier, they’d have large sectors that would
speak the same language, stop tribal warfare, invest in the common defense,
and lots of that money would go towards science centers and dissemination of
information. Instead, other empires ran roughshod over them over the years.

~~~
kingkawn
White empires destroyed millennia of stable political culture in Africa

~~~
sgt
Are you joking? There was no stable political culture in (sub saharan) Africa
to speak of - it was primarily tribal and ad-hoc. Colonialism had indeed some
serious disadvantages, but it's also primarily the reason why modern cities
with infrastructure and major industries exist in Africa.

~~~
kingkawn
The cities as they exist today may have been augmented and developed in part
through European effort, but they are a far cry from what would have been
there had the preexisting social orders not been intentionally decimated and
if their resources had been spent on their own development rather than
Europe’s. Your belief about African societies is a product of after-the-fact
justification of the destruction and attempted erasure of the preexisting
civilizations.

~~~
sgt
I'd say it's highly likely there would be not much else than warring tribes
and the most basic of technology (such as agriculture and mining). Africa is a
really tough place by definition, and for civilizations to thrive you need not
just political stability, but also a cultural inclinations that are mostly
lacking in sub-saharan society.

~~~
MrsPeaches
First off, if you are just trolling, well done, this is top shelf stuff.

If not could you expand on the following points?

What does “tough place by definition” mean?

Which “cultural inclinations” are missing in Africa? Are there any other
places that you think similarly don’t have them or this only the case in
Africa?

Probably the most extreme example of the horrors of colonialism is Belgian
Congo.[1] No surprise that this is one of the most unstable and violent places
in the world. [2]

[1]
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State)

[2] [https://countryeconomy.com/hdi/democratic-republic-
congo](https://countryeconomy.com/hdi/democratic-republic-congo)

~~~
sgt
I am not trolling - and I understand we are approaching an emotional threshold
here for some.

Lots of factors ranging from hostile climates, tribal/ethnic wars, political
issues, language barriers ... the list goes on.

In addition to this, you have cultural traits that simply make it harder to
build (or rebuild) a civilization. I think many people living on the continent
would understand what I mean.

Nobody in their right mind denies the horrors of colonialism, but one should
not consider all historic events as exclusively negative.

Not much of technology was invented over thousands of years (in sub-saharan
Africa). Without colonialism (of some sort), it could be very possible that
Africa would have remained in the stone age for the next thousand years.

------
joyjoyjoy
Congrats. If I may post a GERMAN link from the same source that sounds very
pessimistic: [https://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/14-plaene-
in-44-jahren-...](https://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/14-plaene-in-44-jahren-
afrikas-zukunftsvision-mehr-als-freihandel_id_10897130.html)

