Over time the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is set to change Africa’s production and trade landscape. However, environmental and climate considerations have not featured prominently in its development.

Within this context, the African Union’s Green Recovery Action Plan (GRAP) identifies several priorities for cooperation in the coming five years to support a resilient and green economic recovery. This plan is articulated within Agenda 2063 of African Union (AU), which aims to transform the economies of Africa by increasing intra-continental trade and investment, where the AfCFTA constitutes the main instrument. The concurrent implementation of the GRAP and AfCFTA provides a pivotal opportunity to build resilient and green intra-continental trade and investment to support recovery objectives.

This report identifies how the GRAP and AfCFTA together can support resilient and sustainable recoveries for six African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa. It shows clear opportunities to boost ambition and secure more resilient recoveries within the existing provisions of the AfCFTA, as well as in future negotiations. However, there is also an important opportunity to embed environmental and climate considerations within the AfCFTA, in line with the GRAP, which could further stimulate more resilient recoveries.

Report by the Overseas Development Institute