Business
Africa’s Tripartite FTA to be launched this December
By Kizito Sikuka
Africa’s long-standing vision is an integrated, prosperous and united continent. This vision will come closer to reality this December when the largest integrated market covering 26 countries in eastern and southern Africa is established.
Commonly known as the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), the integrated market will comprise the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The establishment of a single and enlarged market is expected to boost intra-regional trade and deepen regional integration through improved investment flows and enhanced competition. This integrated arrangement will create a combined population of some 625 million people covering half of the member states of the African Union (AU) and a gross domestic product (GDP) of about US$1.2 trillion.
According to a statement released by COMESA, which is spearheading the implementation process as chair of the Tripartite Taskforce, the proposed Tripartite FTA will be launched in December during a Tripartite Summit to be held in Egypt. This follows a series of intense consultations and negotiations that have been going on since 2008 when the 3 regional economic communities made a commitment to jointly work together in regional integration during their historic summit held in Kampala, Uganda.
The commitment shown by the 3 economic communities has now proved fruitful as the Tripartite FTA is within sight and becoming a reality. Meeting in Bujumbura, Burundi on 24-25 October, the Tripartite Sectoral Committee of COMEA-EAC-SADC ministers agreed to launch the TFTA in December, saying the region is now ready for an integrated market.
“The decision to launch the Tripartite FTA took into account the fact that the majority of the Tripartite Member/Partner States have made ambitious tariff offers and were agreed on Rules of Origin to be applied in the interim while further work continues on product specific Rules of Origin,” COMESA Executive Secretary, Sindiso Ngwenya, who is also the chairperson of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Taskforce said in a statement.
According to the roadmap developed by the three regional economic communities in June 2011 in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Tripartite FTA was expected to have been established in June 2014. However, this was not possible due to a combination of factors including limited financial resources, as well as dragging negotiations over some major sticking points such as agreement on the rules of origin, trade remedies and dispute settlement, customs co-operation, documentation procedures and transit instruments.
Negotiations for the Tripartite FTA have been conducted in 3 different phases namely the preparatory phase, phase one and phase two.
