Six years after AfCFTA: Is free trade in Africa possible?

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), launched in 2018, was celebrated as a historic step toward transforming Africa's economic landscape by creating the world's largestfree‑trade area. Advocates envisioned a seamlessly connected continent where tariffswould fall, supply chains would strengthen, and African industries could finally capture more value from the goods they produce. Yet six years later, the ambitious project is progressing slowly. Intra‑African trade continues to hover at low levels, border bottlenecks persist, and many economies still rely heavily on exporting unprocessed raw commodities. As the continent takes stock, questions remain: what tangible gains has the AfCFTA delivered so far, and where has the momentum faltered?