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How viable are auto component regional value chains in Africa?

Automotive components are the building blocks of automobiles and hence are a key part of the one of the world’s largest manufacturing industries. Within Africa the automotive components ... read more

What if Africa were to liberalise the intra-Africa automotive components trade?

What if Africa were to liberalise the intra-Africa automotive components trade? A forthcoming tralac working paper (by this author) presents the results of a simulation of the complete lib... read more

South Africa’s Role in the Automotive Components Trade in Africa

Africa is a continent that is, in general, dependent on the rest of the world (ROW) for manufactured imports. There are some exceptions to this, one of them being the automotive components... read more

Outcomes of COP25

The 25th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) was held in Madrid, Spain from 2nd to 13th December 2019. COP25 was intended to be the l... read more

Finding African Solutions for the Taxation of Digital Trade

The development of the digital economy has brought many public policy and administrative challenges to governments worldwide. Among these is how an international taxation system that was d... read more

How, according to the Founders, will the AfCFTA Agreement be implemented and the Continental Free Trade Area come about?

The objectives behind the AfCFTA are ambitious and wide-ranging. A careful reading of the texts of the founding instruments is necessary to understand the nature and sequencing of the vari... read more

Where is the AfCFTA’s Engine Room?

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) might not be designed to have one single “engine room,” but the scope of the underlying ambition seems to require one. The creation of ... read more

Observer status for the African Union at the WTO

On 17 November 2019, Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chair of the African Union Commission (AUC), sent a letter to Ms Sunanta Kangvalkulkij, Chair of the General Council of the World Trade Organiz... read more

Dealing with Non-Tariff Barriers under the AfCFTA: What are the Prospects?

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been designed as the answer to the low levels of intra-African trade.[1] It should boost intra-African trade by reducing the tariffs on... read more

Services Are the New Economy

As the digitalisation of the global economy progresses, the value size of the services economy relative to the ‘real’ economy is steadily rising. Before computers and the internet, ser... read more

Africa’s Digital Connectivity Dividend in Waiting

“We have to be able to provide infrastructure and digital connectivity to the lowest common denominator at the most affordable price if we really want digital transformation to transform... read more

Creating a Single African Market on Trade in Services: Negotiating the Schedules of Specific Commitments under the Protocol on Trade in Services

Introduction The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is an economic game-changer for Africa. A major aim of this ambitious effort is the expansion of intra-African trade by lower... read more

AfCFTA Trade in Services – A general guide and issues for negotiations on Mutual Recognition Agreements

Business services sector, which include professional services, has been prioritised under the ongoing negotiations on schedules of specific commitments in the context of the African Contin... read more

The AfCFTA Approach to Mutual Recognition

For the liberalization of trade service to materialize to the extent that service suppliers can reap the associated benefits in the sectors recognized under the AfCFTA, there should be arr... read more

Cooperation on financial regulation under the AfCFTA: Where should member-states focus their efforts?

The Modalities and Guidelines adopted for services sector negotiations under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) are unlikely to lead to significant increases in financial ser... read more

What is the AfCFTA Approach to the Regulation of Trade in Services?

The AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Services is a first endeavour to liberalize intra-African trade in services. For several States the task at hand is a novel one.  It involves deeper go... read more

How Similar are Africa’s Exporters? Implications for the AfCFTA

Africa is a continent of great diversity, perhaps more so than any other of the continents. It is a continent richly endowed with resources and these endowments have long formed the basis ... read more

How Similar are Africa’s Trade Regimes? Implications for the AfCFTA

The regional grouping of Africa – both its continental and island states – is a large and diversified bloc of countries. Within this region are multiple regional economic communities (... read more

South Africa’s submission on UNCITRAL ISDS reforms: Comments and implications

Introduction Investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) has in recent years been criticised for its systematic imbalances, as well as inconsistent, flawed and excessive arbitral awards, amo... read more

The United Kingdom Supreme Court annuls the suspension of Parliament: What are the implications for Brexit?

Brexit has rewritten many of the rules of the game for British politics and constitutional law. It has just added another chapter of major importance to this saga. On 24 September 2019, th... read more