Disasters and the African Continental Free Trade Area: Implications for Sub-Saharan Africa in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Disasters, both natural and anthropogenic, pose significant threats to socioeconomic development across the African continent. This paper examines how such disasters affect the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with particular focus on infrastructure disruption, supply chain fragmentation, and the erosion of institutional capacity for regional integration in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Drawing on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, political economy perspectives on regional integration, and document analysis of secondary data from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) and international organisations, the study argues that effective disaster risk management is a prerequisite for the sustained advancement of the AfCFTA agenda. The findings indicate that inadequate political will, fragmented policy frameworks, and limited technological infrastructure collectively impede disaster preparedness and response, thereby undermining trade integration across SSA. The study concludes with targeted policy recommendations aimed at strengthening disaster resilience in support of the AfCFTA and the Africa Agenda 2063.