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The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a flagship project of the African Union under Agenda 2063. Although the AfCFTA appears to be an economic issue on the surface, it is in essence a security agenda. Through the lens of the securitization framework, this article explores why the AfCFTA needs to be 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 analysis incorporates security discourses in relation to the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), both of which demonstrate the continent-wide importance of the linkage between security and the economy. Despite RECs and APSA being core components of the structuring of African security, however, this article notes that they have fallen short of changing the basic structure of a security discourse that has been state-driven. Against this background, in highlighting the potential of the AfCFTA as a new strategic approach that enhances the discursive space for civil societies, a case is made for labeling non-elite social strata as security actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]