South Africa’s among the continental heavyweights that have ratified it.

It’s hoped Nigeria will join to boost intra-African trade in a market of 1,2 billion people worth $2,5 trillion.

The operational phase of the Africa Free Trade Agreement will be launched at the AU summit in Niger on July 7.

Work to be done includes agreeing on arbitration, certificates of origin of goods, tackling corruption and improving infrastructure.

Critics cite  the most serious challenges as poor infrastructure and lack of diversity.

When fully operational, the AFTA will boost intra-African trade by 60%.

Currently only 16% of African trade is between countries of the continent.

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