AfCTA creates the world’s largest trading block (by number of countries) since the World Trade Organization (WTO), a single market with a combined $1.2 billion people and a cumulative GDP of $2.5trillion, making it the world’s eighth largest economy.
According to a recent study by the World Bank, there are an estimated 445 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Africa, out of which only 30 million are formal SMEs and only 70 million formal micro enterprises.
While AfCFTA promises real prospects for growth-oriented businesses, it should be cause to worry for the majority of the 335 million informal businesses across Africa who are the direct beneficiaries.
