On 1 April 2019, the Board of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) approved an institutional support grant of $4.8 million to the African Union (AU) to accelerate the momentum of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), which received its 22nd ratification on 2 April, bringing the agreement into force.

The AfCFTA is a major force for continental integration. It will expand intra-African trade by up to $35 billion per year and usher in freedom of movement for goods, services and people across the continent’s internal borders, with a regime of reduced tariffs and non-tariff barriers to cut the cost of doing business on the continent. It will also boost agriculture and industrial exports by up to $66 billion per year.