The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) has been following with keen

interest developments regarding the negotiations and implementation of the African Continental

Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, which is a major milestone in economic and regional

integration processes in Africa, in line with the aspirations of the flagship “Agenda 2063” of the

African Union for inclusive and sustainable development. The Agreement establishing the AfCFTA

was signed in March 2018 and entered into force in May 2019, while Member States began trading

under the Agreement in January 2021.

In many respects, the AfCFTA has been described as a game changer for the continent. When fully

operationalized, the AfCFTA will create the second largest trading bloc, after the World Trade

Organization, with a single market connecting 1.3 billion people in 55 countries with a combined

GDP of US$3.4 trillion. It is expected that, by 2035, implementation of the AfCFTA will help move

about 30 million people from extreme poverty and 68 million people from moderate poverty, as it

will significantly counter one of Africa’s largest economic banes – that is, low level of intra-African

trade. Besides massive economic and financial gains envisaged, the AfCFTA is also envisaged to

boost the economic potential of women, youths and unskilled workers, with better wages and

employment opportunities, as well as increased production, transformation and marketing capacity.

Despite these anticipated gains of the AfCFTA, the focus on human rights within its guiding

framework and philosophy has been quite muted, albeit the potential risk factors present and

expected. The synergies between the AfCFTA, Agenda 2063 and the SDGs have a necessary bearing

on the African Human Rights System, which is designed and functions to ensure the promotion,

protection, respect and fulfilment of human rights. It has however been observed that trade

agreements and economic integration do not always lead to fair and sustainable outcomes. The drive

for accelerated industrialization may have consequential effects in widening the wage gap, as low-

skilled workers may be exploited, environmental pollution may increase and the gender gap in skills

development and access to economic opportunities widened, all of which will impact negatively on

the well-being of the most vulnerable persons on the continent. Women, for example, account for

about 70% of cross-border trade in Africa; yet, in carrying out their economic activities, they are

prone to violence and harassment. Limitations in property rights also tend to affect female farmers,

as they are unable to maximize their investment and export-led growth. Together with youth, they

are also met with barriers to accessing finance, productive resources and other assets in the

agricultural sector. In its seminal study on “Children on the Move Within Africa”, the African

Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) found that child labour

migration was a principal feature of contemporary economic migration in Africa. Much of this

migration involved low-skilled workers and was concentrated in the agricultural, informal trade and

domestic service sectors. Children on the move for economic reasons were motivated by factors

such as poverty.

4As has been observed, placing human rights at the centre of economic policy enhances the quality

of economic growth. Thus, commitments made by AU Member States to Agenda 2063, SDGs and

the principal human rights instruments of the AU, place an obligation on African States to ensure

that the AfCFTA achieves the whole gamut of economic, social and cultural rights in the main, as

well as civil and political rights. Safeguarding human rights within the AfCFTA is therefore a sine

qua non to the success of the development agenda of the AU. Thus, the Pretoria Declaration on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Africa sums it all up when it states that, “the AU, its Member

States, international and national organizations and non-state actors should fully recognize human

rights as a fundamental objective of development and that development has to achieve the full

realization of all human rights. Economic, social and cultural rights should therefore be integrated

into development planning and implementation, so that African needs and aspirations are fully

addressed.”

Although civil society in Africa, broadly, and Human Rights Defenders (HRDs), in particular, have

played a pivotal role in the advancement of human rights and holding States accountable in Africa,

their level of involvement and voice in the negotiations leading up to the AfCFTA and the early steps

towards implementation of the framework Agreement has not been encouraging, besides their

conspicuous absence in the structures established to oversee implementation of the framework

Agreement. This may be due in part to the fact that the actors steering the AfCFTA agenda do not

fully appreciate the relevance of human rights to the AfCFTA agenda, and also the fact that human

rights defenders have capacity and resource limitations to engage on trade issues.

Against this backdrop, in November 2021, IHRDA began partnering with the Deutsche Gesellschaft

für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) to boost the protection of human rights in the

AfCFTA agenda. This collaboration tries to explore avenues for human rights protection in the

AfCFTA, and to sensitize human rights defenders on the roles they can play in advancing the

protection of socio-economic rights in the AfCFTA.

This study is a product of the IHRDA-GIZ partnership. It provides an assessment of the human

rights stakes in the AfCFTA, and the legal framework for mainstreaming human rights in the

AfCFTA; it brings out the role HRDs defenders should play in the AfCFTA processes, and

highlights the challenges to an effective and efficient participation of HRDs, as well as a way forward

and opportunities for more effective and efficient participation of HRDs and human rights

mainstreaming in the AfCFTA.

In the hope that this instrument will significantly contribute to strengthening the knowledge and

engagement of HRDs vis-à-vis the AfCFTA, IHRDA expresses gratitude to GIZ for its support

towards the realisation of this project.