Blog

Update on the Preferential Tariff Rate Quota Utilisation under the EU-SADC EPA

18 Jun 2021 ~ Taku Fundira
EU-SADC EPA a boost from the TDCA for South Africa The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA count...read more

Telecom license auction in Ethiopia

18 Jun 2021 ~ David Christianson
For the last three years, Ethiopia has been talking about its ambition to liberalise its telecommunications market. This has been a part of a wider programme to liberalise the ‘commandin...read more

Covid accelerates Africa’s medical brain drain

18 Jun 2021 ~ David Christianson
Health professionals are among the most mobile categories of workers in the world. The permanent migration of medical skills from less developed to more affluent countries is not a new iss...read more

Leveraging Technology and Innovation for Africa’s Growth

14 Jun 2021 ~ Monica Werimo (intern)
The rise of digital technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), 3D printing, and blockchain technology all stand to significantly impact trade costs an...read more

The proposed TRIPS Waiver to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic

07 Jun 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
In early October 2020, India and South Africa presented a proposal to the TRIPS Council requesting a temporary waiver from the implementation, application, and enforcement of the Agreement...read more

Making the AfCFTA and the RECs work

03 Jun 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are the official pillars of the African Economic Community (AEC). The AEC Treaty (the Abuja Treaty) came into force in May 1994. It provides for th...read more

Are FTAs making a Comeback? In what Guise and with what Rules?

03 Jun 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
In the 1990s there were major concerns about how preferential trade agreements with specific membership configurations would undermine the multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO. ...read more

Economic Integration is a Challenge: Can Variable Geometry help?

03 Jun 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
Trade Liberalisation and economic integration are a process. When sovereign states embark on the road to form Free Trade Areas (FTAs) and customs unions (CUs) they must agree on the extent...read more

REC Integration Approaches and their Implications

03 Jun 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The traditional approach to economic integration in Africa has become increasingly complex. It lacks focus and feasibility. It might be time to take a hard look at the evidence and revisit...read more

Digital nomads – Remote work visas for SA?

31 May 2021 ~ David Christianson
The recent call by the Western Cape government for South Africa to introduce a one-year remote working visa to boost the tourism industry, has implications which go a long way beyond a sma...read more

Illicit Trade Patterns in East and Southern Africa

25 May 2021 ~ David Christianson
Illicit trading along Africa’s Indian Ocean coastline presents a seemingly intractable set of problems. The sheer range of products, the number of entry points and trade routes, and the ...read more

Commemorating Africa Day – 2021

25 May 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus, Trudi Hartzenberg
Today is Africa Day. How should it be commemorated in the year 2021 and how should this occasion be used to tackle the crises of our times? Africa Day (formerly African Freedom Day and Af...read more

Trade remedies and trade disputes: the case of the US-EU large aircraft dispute, and how these disputes can offer opportunities for South Africa’s wine exports to the United States

26 Apr 2021 ~ Eckart Naumann
One of the primary intentions of WTO laws is to create a more even and fair playing field with respect to trade between WTO member states, and to ensure that trade takes place on a general...read more

Regional Economic Communities and the AfCFTA Investment Protocol

16 Apr 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The legal regimes of the eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs)[1] recognised by the AfCFTA Agreement as building blocks of the African Continental Free Trade Area will not disappear w...read more

How will the AfCFTA Investment Protocol work?

16 Apr 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
International investment agreements (IIAs) are international legal instruments that address issues relevant to cross-border investments, usually for the purpose of protecting, promoting, a...read more

The International Regulation of Investment is not a recent Phenomenon

16 Apr 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
Investment matters have been on the international agenda for a long time but there is no multilateral investment treaty. Post-World War II discussions included investment issues. The propo...read more

Design and Architecture of the AfCFTA Investment Protocol

16 Apr 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The international legal instrument to be adopted as the AfCFTA Protocol on Investment will constitute a binding international agreement for the AU Member States that have ratified this ins...read more

Cameroon signs an Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the United Kingdom

15 Apr 2021 ~ Cham Etienne Bama
On the 9 March 2021 in London, the High Commissioner of Cameroon to the United Kingdom (UK) His Excellency Albert Fotabong Njoteh and the UK International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena ...read more

Exploring Southern Africa’s battery mineral potential

15 Apr 2021 ~ David Christianson
Almost all of the emerging green economy’s high-demand minerals are found in abundance in Southern Africa. Indeed, the region dominates both current supply and known reserves for two of ...read more

The WTO Secretariat under new Leadership

23 Mar 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
On 1 March 2021, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria took office as the seventh Director-General (DG) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). She is the first woman and the first African to...read more