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Launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) within Agenda 2063: an assessment of the ‘Actorness’ of the African Union (AU) in International Relations (IR)

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  • Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson, Ph.D.

    (Department of Research, Innovation and Programs Development (ORID), Catholic University of Business & Technology (CIBT), Institute Drive, Adabraka, Accra, Ghana.)

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the dynamics of decision making within the African Union Commission (AUC) that has led to the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) in July 2019 using Agenda 2063 as the basis. The AU’s Agenda 2063 is both an economic and social model that supports market capitalism and one that incorporates Pan-Africanism as a guiding set of values, and how this ideology defines and reinforces regional integration. Scholarly studies have long accepted the extent to which, an entity like the European Union (EU) is capable of becoming a coherent actor in the global governance complex; which indeed raises important questions about what constitutes ‘actorness’ in contemporary international relations. Can a continental driver of integration such the African Union (AU) emerge as a significant actor in global politics? If so, how can we conceptualize actorness? This paper is attempting a new way at capturing the AU’s internal and external behavior – one that takes into account, not only the AU’s own characteristics – but the kinds of political, economic and social transactions it undertakes, and the feedback processes engendered pertaining to actorness.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson, Ph.D., 2021. "Launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) within Agenda 2063: an assessment of the ‘Actorness’ of the African Union (AU) in International Relations (IR)," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 5(1), pages 278-286, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:5:y:2021:i:1:p:278-286
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Merran Hulse, 2014. "Actorness beyond the European Union: Comparing the International Trade Actorness of SADC and ECOWAS," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 547-565, May.
    6. Meysut Saygili & Ralph Peters & Christian Knebel, 2018. "African Continental Free Trade Area: Challenges and Opportunities of Tariff Reductions," UNCTAD Blue Series Papers 82, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
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