Common market still some way off

Bureaucratic delays are expected to continue to delay the implementation of a free trade area stretching from Cape to Cairo. Government officials have been talking since 2008 about merging the member states of Comesa (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa), the East African Community (EAC, with five members) and the Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC). Incorporating 26 countries the free trade area would open up a market of over 625 million people and an estimated US$1 trillion in trade. A big step forward was the signing in June of an agreement between the member states. However, the opening up of trade among the three African blocs depends on the unification of the rules of origin and tariff, according to Egypt’s minister of industry and trade, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour. This should be followed by the approval of the parliaments of participating countries on the proposal of what is known as the “Tripartite FTA” and its rules, he added at the signing ceremony in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Indications are that shippers should not expect their freight to f low uninterrupted through the region any time soon – and clearing agents can continue to plan to retire after a long career as agents. Governments are in no hurry to sign free trade agreements because they result in an immediate loss of tariff revenue. Manufacturing and agricultural production also gravitate towards the lowest-cost partner in the agreement. In the short term the losers are exporters, importers and the people living in the region.