The AfCFTA in the Context of Africa-EU Relations: A Regulation Analysis of Some Stylized Facts

Abstract The inception of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in 2018, an event which redefined institutional dimensions Africa-European relations, is at centre historic normative debates between two dominant contending schools on imperatives unity. While Pan-Africanists advocate for unity as a strategy to rupture trade relations continents question, Afro-European integrationists assert that quest should not be divorced from deeper exchanges Africa and Europe. AfCFTA embedded ensemble Africa-EU free institutions therefore bound perceived by yielding European domination mobilized vindication validity their assertions. With aid Bob Jessop’s regulation analysis, Radhika Desai’s concept combined development, my notion syndic neo-corporatism well method sequence this paper makes case beyond perspectives schools. It does so order demonstrate while miss point elites instrumentally value rent extraction scheme, fail recognize fits strategic EU prevail over its global competitors.