The African Economic Community (AEC) is an organization of

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

states establishing grounds for mutual economic development among the majority of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n states. The stated goals of the organization include the creation of

free trade area A free-trade area is the region encompassing a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free trade agreement (FTA). Such agreements involve cooperation between at least two countries to reduce trade barriers, import quotas and tariffs, and ...

customs union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...

s, a single market, a

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a centra ...

, and a common currency (see

African Monetary Union The African Monetary Union (AMU) is the proposed creation of an economic and monetary union for the countries of the African Union, administered by the African Central Bank. Such a union would call for the creation of a new unified currency, simi ...

) thus establishing an

economic and monetary union An economic and monetary union (EMU) is a type of trade bloc that features a combination of a common market, customs union, and monetary union. Established via a trade pact, an EMU constitutes the sixth of seven stages in the process of economic ...

Pillars

Currently there are multiple

regional bloc A trade bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where barriers to trade (tariffs and others) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states. Trade blocs can be stand-alone ...

s in Africa, also known as Regional Economic Communities (RECs), many of which have overlapping memberships. The RECs consist primarily of

trade bloc A trade bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where barriers to trade (tariffs and others) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states. Trade blocs can be stand-alone ...

s and, in some cases, some political and military cooperation. Most of these RECs form the "pillars" of AEC, many of which also have an overlap in some of their member states. Due to this high proportion of overlap it is likely that some states with several memberships will eventually drop out of one or more RECs. Several of these pillars also contain subgroups with tighter customs and/or monetary unions of their own: These pillars and their corresponding subgroups are as follows:

Pillar membership

¹ The UMA (

Arab Maghreb Union The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) or simply the Maghreb Union (MU) ( ar, اتحاد المغرب العربي ', french: Union du Maghreb Arabe) is a political union and economic union trade agreement aiming for economic and future political unity am ...

) does not participate in the AEC so far, because of opposition by

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

Overlaps illustrated

Other blocs

Other African regional blocs, not participating in the AEC framework (many of them predating AEC) are: *

Greater Arab Free Trade Area The Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) (Arabic: ) was founded by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen on May 30, 1964, following an agreement in 1957 by ...

(GAFTA) (an organization of most

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

ern states, including those outside Africa) * Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL) *

Indian Ocean Commission The Indian Ocean Commission (french: Commission de l'Océan Indien, COI) is an intergovernmental organisation that links African Indian Ocean nations: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion (an overseas region of France), and Seychelles. Ther ...

(COI) *

Liptako-Gourma Authority The Liptako– Gourma Authority (LGA) is a regional organization seeking to develop the contiguous areas of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Created in December 1970, the Authority has as its goal the promotion of the areas mineral, energy, hydraul ...

(LGA) *

Mano River Union The Mano River Union (MRU) is an international association initially established between Liberia and Sierra Leone by the 3 October 1973 Mano River Declaration. It is named for the Mano River which begins in the Guinea highlands and forms a border ...

(MRU) Their membership is as follows: ¹ Only African GAFTA members are listed.
GAFTA and MRU are the only blocs not currently stalled.

Goals

The AEC founded through the

Abuja Treaty The African Economic Community (AEC) is an organization of African Union states establishing grounds for mutual economic development among the majority of African states. The stated goals of the organization include the creation of free trade ...

, signed in 1991 and entered into force in 1994 is envisioned to be created in six stages: # (completed in 1999) Creation of regional blocs in regions where such do not yet exist # (completed in 2007) Strengthening of intra-REC integration and inter-REC harmonisation # (completed in 2021) Establishing of a

and

in each regional bloc # (to be completed in 2023) Establishing of a continent-wide customs union (and thus also a free trade area) # (to be completed in 2025) Establishing of a continent-wide African

Common Market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

(ACM) # (to be completed in 2028) Establishing of a continent-wide

(and thus also a

currency union A currency union (also known as monetary union) is an intergovernmental agreement that involves two or more states sharing the same currency. These states may not necessarily have any further integration (such as an economic and monetary union, ...

) and

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

:* End of all transition periods: 2034 at the latest

Stages progress

''as of September 2007'' * Stage 1: Completed, only

members and

Sahrawi Republic Sahrawi or Saharawi (also transliterated into Spanish as or French as ), is an Arabic term meaning 'from the Sahara', or more specifically the Western Sahara. It can also mean 'from the desert' in general. Sahrawi may also refer to: People *the ...

not participating.

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

is participating, but no practical implementation yet. * Stage 2: Steady progress, nothing factual to check. * Stage 3: ¹ Members not yet participating:

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(in talks to join),

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopi ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

(in talks to join),

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its n ...

(on derogation until SACU gives permission for Swaziland to join the FTA),

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

(to join very soo

br> ² Members not yet participating:

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

br>
br> * Stage 4: In March 2018, 49 African countries signed the

African Continental Free Trade Agreement The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area encompassing most of Africa. It was established in 2018 by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which has 43 parties and another 11 signatories, making it the larg ...

paving the way for a continent-wide

. The continental free trade area became operational in July 2019, after 22 ratifications. As of 2021, 34 signataries have effectively become parties of the treaty. * Stage 5: no progress yet * Stage 6: no progress yet

Overall progress

¹ not all members participating yet
²

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

and

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of ...

- proposed
³ sensitive goods to be covered from 2012

African Free Trade Zone

The African Free Trade Zone (AFTZ) was announced on Wednesday October 22, 2008 by the heads of

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security coopera ...

(SADC), the

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional economic community in Africa with twenty-one member states stretching from Tunisia to Eswatini. COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area whic ...

(COMESA) and the

East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Buru ...

(EAC). In May 2012 the idea was extended to also include ECOWAS, ECCAS and AMU.Africa free trade zone in operation by 2018
/ref>

References

Sources

A single African currency in our time?African leaders agree to form single marketAfrican Union Official Website
{{Authority control African Union Economy of the African Union Regional Economic Communities of the African Union Special economic zones Trade blocs 1991 in economics