What was agreed in the African Tripartite FTA deal signed on 10 June 2015? What were the main challenges in the negotiations? What are the prospects for the second phase? What are the implications for the CFTA negotiations which were launched on 15 June 2015 at the other end of the continent in Johannesburg, South Africa? The Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement (TFTA), bringing together member and partner states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) [1] , was signed in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt on 10June 2015 by representatives of most of the 26 countries covered by the deal. The 26 countries represent 48 percent of the African Union membership, 51 percent of continental GDP and a combined population of 632 million. If the TFTA countries were one country, it would be the thirteenth largest economy in the world. Merchandise trade within the Tripartite region grew from US$23 billion in 2004 to US$55 billion in 2012 – an increase of 140 per cent during this period, reinforcing the ‘Africa rising’ narrative (see chart). While the scope of the TFTA economy is large, significant structural and policy...
Written by David Luke, Zodwa Mabuza