Ethiopia gazettes provisional tariff concessions, paving way for AfCFTA trade benefits

Addis Ababa, August 15, 2025 (FMC) — Ethiopia has officially published its Provisional Schedule of Tariff Concessions (PSTCs) in the national gazette, a decisive move toward fully implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.

Gazetting the PSTCs makes the new tariff measures a matter of public record, ensuring transparency and enabling businesses, trade organizations, and the public to prepare for the changes, local news agency ENA reported, citing the nation’s foreign ministry. The schedule sets out the specific tariff reductions Ethiopia will grant to eligible goods under the AfCFTA framework.

The AfCFTA Secretariat, in a statement on social media, hailed the step as providing traders with “clarity and legal certainty” that Ethiopia will offer preferential tariff treatment in line with its commitments.

By formalizing its tariff concessions, Ethiopia joins a growing number of member states moving from policy commitments to operational measures designed to expand intra-African trade, lower tariff barriers, and advance the continent’s economic integration agenda.

The AfCFTA is a flagship initiative of the African Union’s Agenda 2063. First adopted at the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa in January 2012, it seeks to create the world’s largest single market by uniting 54 African countries under a common trade and investment framework.