Towards New African Security: A Prospective Role of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

초록

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a flagship project of theAfrican Union under Agenda 2063. Although the AfCFTA appears to be aneconomic issue on the surface, it is in essence a security agenda. Through the lensof the securitization framework, this article explores why the AfCFTA needs tobe explained in a wider context of the nexus between security and the economy. After illustrating the traits of the security–economy nexus of Africa, the analysisincorporates security discourses in relation to the Regional Economic Communities(RECs) and the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), both of whichdemonstrate the continent-wide importance of the linkage between security and theeconomy. Despite RECs and APSA being core components of the structuring ofAfrican security, however, this article notes that they have fallen short of changingthe basic structure of a security discourse that has been state-driven. Againstthis background, in highlighting the potential of the AfCFTA as a new strategicapproach that enhances the discursive space for civil societies, a case is made forlabeling non-elite social strata as security actors.

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