Other notable free trade areas in Africa include the Economic Community of West African States, Southern Africa Development Community and the Economic Community for Central African States.ĭeputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, Erastus Mwencha, who is also a former secretary general of Comesa, said policies of different African RECs should be harmonised since forcing states to belong to only one had proved difficult. Kenya belongs to two trading blocs, the East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and also to the Inter-Government Authority on Development, which is considered a REC by the African Union. Africas largest bloc, the Community of SahelSaharan States (Cen-Sad), which draws membership from 27 countries in the northern part of the continent including. He said an AU conference held in the Gambia in 2006 failed to make any headway on the issue, as only one country-which he did not disclose- committed to pull out of multiple memberships. However, an analysis of how varying levels of integration within free trade blocs in Sub-Saharan Africa affect economic growth does not appear to be in the. Mistrust and perceived competition between countries has held back integration in Africa, with each region establishing its own trade bloc and locking out others.Ĭommissioner for economic affairs at the African Union, Maxwell Mkwezalamba, said previous efforts to convince countries to belong to only one REC had proved futile. While opportunities for cross-border trade within Africa in food products, basic manufactures and. The EPA offers duty-free and quota-free market access to all exports from ESA countries who are. Zimbabwe also signed the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) under the Eastern and Southern African (ESA) bloc with the European Commission in 2009. the East African Community ( EAC ) the Southern African Customs Union (. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aims to bring together 1.3 billion people in a 3.4 trillion economic bloc that will be the largest free trade area since the establishment of the. Zimbabwe has bilateral trade agreements with Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. Each trade bloc has its own goals and objectives, but in essence they all aim to achieve economic prosperity through regional integration. “That imposes costs on consumers who have to buy the goods,” said Mr Egbe. WASHINGTON, Febru A World Bank report reviews the nature and impact of barriers to trade to within Africa, and highlights widespread opportunities for African countries to trade goods, services and investments across borders. Currently there are six key trade blocs in Africa: the Southern African Development Community ( SADC ) the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern African States ( PTA) which was later replaced by the Common Market. A number of African countries have consolidated to create regional trade blocs.
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