STATE TO STATE, BUT AT WHAT COST? ASSESSING THE LIMITS OF AFCFTA’S DISPUTE SETTLEMENT FRAMEWORK IN PROMOTING INTRA-AFRICAN TRADE

Abstract

Beyond tariff liberalization, the African Continental Free Trade Area seeks to restructure Africa’s trade, promote industrialization, and enhance participation in global value chains. The legal backbone of this ambition is the Protocol on Rules and Procedures on Settlement of Disputes between disputing member states, modeled on the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Understanding. Using doctrinal methodology, this paper examines the domestic, institutional, regional, and international legal framework governing the African Continental Free Trade Area Dispute Settlement Mechanism. At the domestic level, it assesses how member states incorporate African Continental Free Trade Area obligations and the limited role of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism, given that only State Parties have standing under Article 20 of the Protocol. At the institutional stage, it analyzes the role of the African Continental Free Trade Area Dispute Settlement Body and Secretariat in administering consultations, panels, and implementation, and at the regional dimension, the paper explores the interface and potential overlap with Regional Economic Communities’ dispute systems, and the challenge of fragmentation. It further investigates, at the international dimension, the Mechanism within WTO jurisprudence and principles of international trade law. The paper concludes that while the framework provides a state-to-state structure for compliance, defects include exclusion of private parties, high costs, and uneven arbitration capacity, which undermine effective enforcement of AfCFTA trade rules, and recommends, among others, amendment of the Protocol to allow direct private participation through a state filter or advisory opinion procedure.