#107: Africa's trade dreams meet Liberian roads
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The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which came into effect at the beginning of the year, has been heralded as a major step in increasing intra-continental trade with the potential to stimulate growth, industrialisation and generate an additional $450 billion for African countries by 2035. But connectivity issues, including weak transport infrastructure and the added costs that come with it, have been flagged as a significant challenge to the success of the initiative across the continent. Liberia will be no exception, given the deplorable state of much of its road network, with motorbikes the primary means of transporting goods and passengers in rural areas. We follow cocoa traders and farmers, as they struggle to move their crop from harvest to port.
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