Blog
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
The AfCFTA Approach to Mutual Recognition
26 Oct 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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?
26 Oct 2019 ~ Ashly Hope (Volunteer)
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?
26 Oct 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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
16 Oct 2019 ~ John Stuart
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
16 Oct 2019 ~ John Stuart
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
16 Oct 2019 ~ Talkmore Chidede
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?
07 Oct 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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
The Institutions of the African Continental Free Trade Area
13 Sep 2019 ~
Free Trade Areas (FTAs) need institutions to oversee, promote and monitor the implementation of obligations by the State Parties. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) esta...read more
Implementing Trade Agreements: The Role of National Institutions and Administrative Law
13 Sep 2019 ~
Trade and regional integration agreements must be implemented by the State Parties in order to make a difference. Who performs this function and what is the legal basis for the domestic im...read more
South Africa withdraws its Signature from the Decision to abolish the SADC Tribunal
13 Sep 2019 ~
Changes to institutional arrangements can happen in unexpected ways and as a result of governments’ new policies. The correct procedure is to follow the formal procedures for adopting am...read more
The Bretton Woods System at 75
13 Sep 2019 ~
Seventy five years ago, in July 1944, while World War II was still raging, delegates from all 44 Allied nations gathered in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in the United States, for the Unit...read more
The Institutional Implications of Article 19 of the AfCFTA – where do the Regional Economic Communities fit in?
13 Sep 2019 ~
Article 19(2) of the AfCFTA Agreement provides that “State Parties that are members of other regional economic communities, regional trading arrangements and custom unions, which have at...read more
The SACU Institutions that never were
13 Sep 2019 ~
The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a customs union (CU) and is in operation since 1910. It has a single customs territory and a Common External Tariff (CET). SACU is also an Inte...read more
What is happening to the WTO?
13 Sep 2019 ~
Freedom of trade and equal market access were central to the plans for reconstructing the post World War II international order. International peace had to be secured through, amongst othe...read more
The Institutional Arrangements of the Tripartite Free Trade Area
13 Sep 2019 ~
To a large extent, the launch of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) in June 2015 ushered in a new institutional approach towards intra-African trade and integration.[1] ...read more
AGOA Forum 2019: Reflections and new developments
12 Sep 2019 ~ Eckart Naumann
The 2019 AGOA Forum took place early August in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, under the banner of “AGOA and the Future: Developing a new trade paradigm to guide US-Africa trade and investmen...read more
An update on the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement by African countries as of July 2019
01 Aug 2019 ~ Talkmore Chidede
This blog provides an update of the ratification and implementation status of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) by African countries as of July 2019.[1]...read more
Leveraging the Trade Information Dividend for Africa
01 Aug 2019 ~ John Stuart
In the world of economics and trade, information is key. Economists refer to the ‘making’ of markets, which means the way in which market players come together to create a market for a...read more
tralac’s Message on Mandela Day 2019: Good Governance and the State
18 Jul 2019 ~ Trudi Hartzenberg, Gerhard Erasmus
Mandela Day serves to remind and inspire us to strive for social justice. This is the complex and multi-faceted challenge to adopt policies and strategies for addressing poverty and inequa...read more
Does the African Continental Free Trade Area mean business?
12 Jul 2019 ~ Trudi Hartzenberg, Gerhard Erasmus
When a large number of sovereign states launch an ambitious new free trade project and conclude binding treaties to signal their resolve, we should pay attention. If these are African stat...read more