Blog
Climate and Health at COP28: Treating the Symptoms or Causes?
11 Dec 2023 ~ Emily Pender
Air pollution causes over 8 million deaths per year. By 2050 extreme heat, diarrhea, dengue, malaria, and malnutrition (stunting) will together cause 21 million more deaths than there woul...read moreFossil Fables: Reading Between the Lines of the COP28 Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter
07 Dec 2023 ~ Emily Pender
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) is underway in Dubai until the 12 December 2023. According to t...read moreWhy Value Chain Development of the Cosmetics & Personal Care Products Sector Could Benefit Female MSME Entrepreneurs in Africa
30 Nov 2023 ~ John Stuart
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The cosmetics and personal care products value chain in Africa is an emerging and rapidly growing sector, reflecting the increasing demand from a burgeoning middle class and...read moreWhat is the DNA of the AfCFTA?
30 Nov 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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It has been said that “… the significance of the AfCFTA cannot be overstated. It is the world’s largest free trade area since the establishment of the World Trade Orga...read moreThe AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth as part of a new trade and integration discourse
30 Nov 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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When the negotiations to conclude the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) started in 2015, the initial focus was on boosting intra-Africa...read moreUNCTAD LDC Report shines light on climate funding shortfall ahead of COP28
28 Nov 2023 ~ Emily Pender
The 2023 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) finds that LDCs have not received enough financial assistance t...read moreSupporting women cross-border traders
18 Oct 2023 ~ Edna Oduwo
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Over the past few years, matters on gender equality, gender biases and gender mainstreaming in trade policy have become more prominent in public debates with increased focus...read moreWill investment flows increase under the AfCFTA Investment Protocol?
18 Oct 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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Africa needs investments to develop and industrialize. The bulk of it comes in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI). In 2021 FDI into African countries amounted to $8...read moreHow is the AfCFTA’s industrial development agenda shaping up?
18 Oct 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
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Industrialisation is vital for Africa’s long-term development. To achieve its objectives and boost intra-African trade (which stands at very low levels and involves m...read moreThemes of the Africa Climate (Finance) Summit: Loans, Taxes, Credits
20 Sep 2023 ~ Gita Briel
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The inaugural Africa Climate Summit, hosted in Nairobi, Kenya, concluded on the 6th September. The summit was, by design, centred around climate finance. Its resounding key ...read moreKenya’s GMO Ban: The Court of Appeal upholds the ban on GM Crops
29 Aug 2023 ~ Maleehah Khandwalla
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On 3rd October 2022, amidst the worst drought Kenya has faced in over 40 years, the Cabinet of the Republic of Kenya lifted a 10-year ban on the cultivation within Kenya as ...read moreWhat the AfCFTA Agreement establishes and what the State Parties should do
13 Aug 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
A recent communication from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to the African Union (AU) Member States says that in order to facilitate the Guided Trade Initiativ...read moreWars in Africa are bad for the AfCFTA
13 Aug 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) of boosting intra-African trade in goods and services and eventually “to create a single market for goods, services, fa...read moreWhat is the Mandate of the AfCFTA? Is it changing?
13 Aug 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
There is a provision in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement which provides that:
[the] Council of Ministers shall within its mandate take decisions in accordance wi...read moretralac’s Message on Mandela Day: Good Governance and the State
17 Jul 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus, Trudi Hartzenberg
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 moretralac Annual Conference participants visit Masaka Dry Port in Kigali, Rwanda – lessons for implementation of the AfCFTA
12 Jul 2023 ~ Elizabeth Mulae
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As African countries prepare to implement and operationalise the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the effective implementation of the AfCFTA is now a key concer...read moreAfrican CT&L Value Chain Performance, Potential and Gender
12 Jul 2023 ~ John Stuart
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This Blog is intended to give an idea of the potential of integrated and cross-dimensional value chain, trade performance and gender analysis using tralac’s current databa...read moreAfrica’s debt crisis: no Gleneagles moment ahead
29 Jun 2023 ~ David Christianson
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Many African countries are currently experiencing a credit crunch. The crisis is sufficiently deep and widespread for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to subtitle its A...read moreThe Gender Dimension of Tariff Preferences Utilisation
28 Jun 2023 ~ Gita Briel
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Tariff preference utilisation rates indicate the extent to which businesses or entities take advantage of tariff preferences granted under trade agreements or preferential t...read moreThe East African Court of Justice delivers a landmark judgement on Kenya’s bilateral negotiation with the United States without involving EAC Partner States
26 Apr 2023 ~ Maleehah Khandwalla
The United States (U.S.) and Kenya commenced bilateral trade through the enactment of the African Opportunity and Growth Act (AGOA), signed in the year 2000.
Kenya is the second-largest b...read moreCan the private sector save South Africa’s Transnet?
05 Apr 2023 ~ David Christianson
South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, met with board members of state logistics company, Transnet, in late March. According to a press release from his office, the president ‘has dir...read moreWater Cooperation Essential as Africa’s Water Crisis Intensifies
05 Apr 2023 ~ Gita Briel
There is a growing global water crisis, driven by climate change, population growth, increased water-intensive production, and the neglect of water infrastructure. The latest edition of th...read moreA Closer look at Trade in Environmental Services as SADC Prepares for Negotiations
05 Apr 2023 ~ Gita Briel
The global drive towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the increased availability of green finance, and the associated ambitions of firms and governments to improve their environmenta...read moreIs the national electricity state of disaster the answer for South Africa?
29 Mar 2023 ~ Dawid van Wyk
Introduction
On 1 March 2023, South Africa’s state-owned power utility Eskom reached the 100-year mark. Instead of celebrations, the day passed under the dark cloud of measures publishe...read moreCan reducing Non-Tariff Trade Costs in Africa be the gamechanger for the African Continental Free Trade Area
28 Mar 2023 ~ Taku Fundira
The AfCFTA – an opportunity to boost intra-Africa trade
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which is set to be the largest free trade area (FTA) in the world with 54 of the...read moreAfrican States should keep track of the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism as implementation advances
08 Mar 2023 ~ Gita Briel
On December 13, 2022, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the implementation of an EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (...read moreThe Windsor Framework: The Brexit deal clarified for Northern Ireland
08 Mar 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The United Kingdom (UK) was a member of the European Union (EU) from 1973. In a referendum held on 23 June 2016, the people of the UK voted to leave the EU. One of the reasons was their un...read moreMemoranda of Understanding (MoUs) in trade and integration arrangements
08 Mar 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The Government of the United States has recently concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the AfCFTA Secretariat. It has also concluded one with Zambia and the Democratic Republi...read moreBotswana and Namibia concluded an agreement on the movement of persons
08 Mar 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus, Trudi Hartzenberg
On 24 February 2023, Botswana and Namibia concluded a bilateral agreement on the movement of persons.[1] This is an important regional development. What is the context and what are the imp...read moreHow will historians and economists one day look back at the AfCFTA?
08 Mar 2023 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
Right from its inception there have been high expectations, here and abroad, about how the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would unlock Africa’s potential to increase intra-...read more