The main objective of the African Continental Free Trade Area is to eliminate trade barriers and boost intra-Africa trade. This column argues that implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement’s provisions would be a powerful complement to the free trade area’s tariff-reduction agenda. A realistic implementation of TFA measures could reduce time in customs for imports by 2.7 days for exports by 1.7 days. These reductions in time translate into a tariff ad-valorem equivalent reduction in the range 3.6–7% for imports and an 8.1% extra growth for exports.
