On April 27, 2022, Landry Signé testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing on “Understanding the African Continental Free Trade Area and How the U.S. Can Promote its Success.” His written testimony follows. Watch the full hearing video.
Thank you very much, Chair Karen Bass, Ranking Member Christopher Smith, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, for your extraordinary leadership on U.S.-Africa relations. I am incredibly honored by and grateful for the opportunity offered to me by the members of this committee to testify on “Understanding the African Continental Free Trade Area and How the U.S. Can Promote its Success.” I am Landry Signé, Managing Director and Professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Africa Growth Initiative, Distinguished Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for African Studies, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Regional Action Group on Africa, and the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Agile Governance.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was signed in March 2018, ratified by the required number of countries by May 2019, and came into force in January 2021.
The significance of the AfCFTA cannot be overstated. It is the world’s largest new free trade area since the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994. It promises to increase intra-African trade through deeper levels of trade liberalization and enhanced regulatory harmonization and coordination. Moreover, it is expected to improve the competitiveness of African industry and enterprises through increased market access, the exploitation of economies of scale, and more effective resource allocation.
Emerging Markets & Developing Economies Effective engagement with Africa: Capitalizing on shifts in business, technology, and global partnerships
Landry Signé, Chris Heitzig
Landry Signé, Colette van der Ven
