Opinion
Tripartite Free Trade Area: Great Strides in Africa’s Unity
Fast-tracking the Continental FTA
As a practical way of initiating Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), I would propose that the Africa Union Commission (AUC) and 4 RECs – COMESA, EAC and SADC as a Tripartite on one hand and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the other initiate negotiations to establish a free trade area between them.
With a membership of 15 states, ECOWAS represents 28 percent of Africa’s 54 countries, 29 percent (US$674 Billion) of its GDP and 30 percent (327 million) of its population (2013 data, the World Bank).
Intra-trade among in the ECOWAS grew from US$6 billion in 2007 to US$11.8 billion in 2013. With a combined GDP of US$1.2 trillion and a population of 626 million people, the Tripartite makes up a sizable African population that reached 1,109 million people in 2013; GDP surpassing the US$2 trillion mark.
Therefore An FTA between the Tripartite and ECOWAS would result into a large trading block of 41 countries representing 76 percent of membership of the AU, 86 percent (954 million) of its population and 80 percent (US$1.9 trillion) of its GDP. As ECOWAS is a fully-fledged Customs Union with a Common External Tariff and common
trade policy, and the COMESA, EAC and SADC Tripartite countries are on the verge of launching the Tripartite FTA, negotiations between ECOWAS and the Tripartite countries can be conducted within the time frame foreseen by the AUC.
The two blocks of countries can build on their currently prevailing duty-free trade regimes and on tariff lines with zero tariffs as a starting point and gradually
eliminate tariffs on other products in a phased but incremental manner. The Tripartite – ECOWAS FTA should cover both trade in goods and trade in services and would also reinforce on-going initiatives by the private sectors of the two regions to boost cross-border trade and investment.
Already, we are witnessing the expansion of the financial institutions, namely banks, from West Africa to East and Southern Africa, expansion of manufacturing
enterprises from Southern Africa into West Africa, and our firm belief is that efforts must be supported and encouraged through an FTA.
The resultant benefits from such a geographically-wide FTA have been sufficiently elaborated in various papers, publications and studies.
