Download or read book Economic Development in Africa Report 2019 written by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and published by United Nations. This book was released on 2019-06-26 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents a historic opportunity for the continent to boost intra-African trade and accelerate structural transformation. However, this relies on a critical policy instrument: the effective implementation of preferential trade liberalization among the AfCFTA members. Whether in practice African firms will utilize tariff preferences under the AfCFTA depends on a critical factor: rules of origin (RoO) and the net benefits of complying with them. This report argues for the adoption of flexible RoO and a strengthening of institutional capacities to ensure an impartial, transparent, predictable, consistent and neutral implementation of agreed RoO.