As appreciation of the importance of regional trade integration and liberalisation continues to grow among African governments, States that have endorsed the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) continue to cooperate around the creation of a legal framework to guide the agreement, which is currently well advanced, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) multilateral economic relations chief director for Africa Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter said on Thursday.

Noting that there was “a lot” of cooperation between member States, she told the EY Strategic Growth Forum Africa 2014 that the parties were well advanced in the negotiation process and were “close” to finalising the legal framework, which would guide the creation of a TFTA.

“We are also currently finalising the tariff offers, which will lead to an open market that is available to [every country].

“This will see the immediate phasing out of 60% of trade tariffs and will provide 85% duty-free access into the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), and the East African Community (EAC),” she noted.

The TFTA would build on the free trade agreements (FTAs) already in place in Comesa, the EAC and SADC and would govern trade between Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The landmark agreement would be underpinned by robust infrastructure programmes designed to catalyse the regional market through interconnectivity – facilitated by all modes of transport and telecommunications – and promote competitiveness.

The TFTA’s primary proposal was to establish the FTA on a tariff-free, quota-free, exemption-free basis by simply combining the existing FTAs of Comesa, the EAC and SADC.

Mlumbi acknowledged, however, that issues remained around sovereignty, with some member States reluctant to cede certain rights and territories in the creation of a free trade area.

“There is an understanding that some ceding will have to occur, but a central challenge is how to work together as sovereign governments in a cooperative, legal framework.

“We’re not moving as fast as we’d like, but there is progress on the ground,” she commented.

This progress had come partly as a result of the DTI’s “long” pursuit of regional integration, Mlumbi observed, and partly owing to a realisation by the South African government that it “could not continue” under the existing constraints to intra-African trade.

Fundamental to South Africa’s regional trade promotion strategy, she outlined, was market integration, industrial development and infrastructure development. 

“This will allow us to create an inclusive environment for trade, develop a value chain throughout the continent and establish trade and transport links to other African countries, rather than to former colonial partners,” she said.

This would also require cooperation with the private sector and a fostering of relationships between businesses based in various African countries.

The DTI was, meanwhile, also accelerating the development of one-stop border posts (OSBPs) to expedite the cross-border movement of people and goods on the continent, and was in negotiations with the governments of Zimbabwe and Mozambique in this regard.

OSBPs would enable countries to reduce border crossing time, share logistics costs, improve cooperation and integrate risk and information management between sovereigns.