Blog
The AfCFTA is due for Implementation – what is to be expected?
26 Mar 2020 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been designed to boost trade on the African continent. How and when will new trade benefits for merchandise trade (lower tariffs and th...read more
Will disputes under the AfCFTA Agreement be less “political”?
26 Mar 2020 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
It has been observed that the dispute settlement system of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is less “political” in design than, for example, the former SADC Dispute Set...read more
How will Phase II of the AfCFTA be negotiated, ratified and implemented?
26 Mar 2020 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aims to establish a comprehensive new trade regime for Africa. The Preamble to the AfCFTA Agreement refers to “the need to establish clea...read more
Will there be a Phase III for the AfCFTA?
26 Mar 2020 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The logic and the design of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) confirm that this is not an event. It is an ambitious project and a process. That is why its institutions are s...read more
Substantive issues the AfCFTA Investment Protocol should address
26 Mar 2020 ~ Talkmore Chidede
The envisaged Protocol on Investment in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would be about intra-Africa investment. At this stage the bulk of foreign direct investment (FDI) i...read more
Cooperation on financial services regulation under the AfCFTA
26 Mar 2020 ~ Ashly Hope (Volunteer)
As part of the negotiations on services under the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, parties will negotiate regulatory cooperation frameworks in priority sectors.
What is regu...read more
The Trade in Automotive Components and Regional Value Chain Development
26 Mar 2020 ~ John Stuart
The development of global value chains (GVCs) has been one of the most striking features of economic globalisation. With the improvements in the efficiency of global travel and communicati...read more
South Africa’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic
26 Mar 2020 ~ Trudi Hartzenberg
tralac is monitoring trade-related policy responses to COVID-19
From midnight on Thursday, 26 March 2020, South Africa is in lockdown for 21 days. This announcement was made by President ...read more
COVID19-related export control measures – has South Africa adopted the same yet?
20 Mar 2020 ~ Talkmore Chidede
The rapid spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID19) has increased demand for and raised concerns about the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) essential to prevent furthe...read more
How investment disputes in Zimbabwe will be resolved under the ZIDA Act
13 Mar 2020 ~ Talkmore Chidede
The recently enacted Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA) Act [CHAPTER 14:37] guarantees local and foreign investors legal protection against discriminatory treatment, exprop...read more
The ZIDA Act: An overhaul of the investment policy regime and impetus for investment in Zimbabwe?
09 Mar 2020 ~ Talkmore Chidede
On 6 February 2020, the President of Zimbabwe signed into law the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency Act [Chapter 14:37] (ZIDA Act). ZIDA Act deals with the promotion, entry, facilitat...read more
Mining Indaba 2020: Vague Promises leave South Africa’s Mining Industry Insecure
12 Feb 2020 ~ David Christianson
An article published online by the conference organisers sums up the limitations of events like the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba (‘the mining indaba’) held in Cape Town from 3-6 F...read more
Angela Merkel’s state visit to South Africa: its significance amid the current Germany-South Africa trade relationship
12 Feb 2020 ~ Eckart Naumann
On Thursday 6 February 2020, German Chancellor Angela Merkel landed in South Africa as part of a brief visit to Southern Africa, which also includes a visit to Angola. This is her second o...read more
Brexit: The Milestone of 31 January 2020 and the Challenges ahead
12 Feb 2020 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
On 1 January 1973, Prime Minister Edward Heath signed the EEC Treaty of Accession in terms of which the UK joined the EU. The same two parties have now finalized the formalities to end thi...read more
New Border Management for South Africa amidst unresolved systemic Issues
12 Feb 2020 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
In December 2019, after many years of deliberation[1], the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), which is the second chamber of the South African Parliament, passed and returned the Border...read more
China and the United States conclude their first ad hoc Trade Deal
12 Feb 2020 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
On 15 January 2020, US President Donald Trump signed a partial trade agreement with China. It is designed to contain the fallout of a more than 18-month long trade war between Washington a...read more
An interim Dispute Settlement Arrangement for some WTO Members
12 Feb 2020 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
Since the end of 2019, the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization (WTO) can no longer function as designed. This system was created as part of the WTO Agreement during t...read more
How viable are auto component regional value chains in Africa?
21 Jan 2020 ~ John Stuart
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?
21 Jan 2020 ~ John Stuart
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
21 Jan 2020 ~ John Stuart
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
19 Dec 2019 ~ Talkmore Chidede
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
19 Dec 2019 ~ Ashly Hope (Volunteer), John Stuart
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
Where is the AfCFTA’s Engine Room?
17 Dec 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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
How, according to the Founders, will the AfCFTA Agreement be implemented and the Continental Free Trade Area come about?
17 Dec 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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
Observer status for the African Union at the WTO
17 Dec 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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?
17 Dec 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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
26 Oct 2019 ~ John Stuart
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
26 Oct 2019 ~ John Stuart
“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
26 Oct 2019 ~ Beatrice Chaytor
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
26 Oct 2019 ~ Viola Sawere
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