Blog
Making intra-African investment work for women: what should be considered in the AfCFTA Protocol on Investment
27 Jan 2022 ~ Lolita Laperle-Forget
The ongoing negotiations of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Investment Protocol provide a unique opportunity to make the intra-African investment work for women. The Proto...read more
The AfCFTA must cope with global and continental challenges alongside existing structures: How will it do so?
26 Jan 2022 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The AfCFTA is not only a trade deal. It is also a flagship project of the AU and must advance political and developmental aims to “deepen the economic integration of the African continen...read more
Message in a bottle
24 Jan 2022 ~ David Christianson
The South African government has an ambiguous attitude towards the alcohol industry. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it has demonstrated a puritanical dislike for the sub-sector, banning sal...read more
What does the AfCFTA want to be and what could it become?
24 Jan 2022 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
Do the legal instruments of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) contain a philosophy or strategy about deeper continental integration? What might this be? Is the AfCFTA a cont...read more
REC Courts and the AfCFTA
24 Jan 2022 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) adds an important new chapter to Africa’s economic integration agenda. The design of the AfCFTA regime will, however, require that that t...read more
When will the AfCFTA be customs-ready?
24 Jan 2022 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The negotiations to finalise the tariff schedules and rules of origin (RoO) of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) are taking place during the last two weeks of January 2022. ...read more
Moving Up the Value Chain – How Can Africa Keep Climbing the Ladder?
21 Dec 2021 ~ John Stuart
In the standard model of world trade, which is taught to first year students around the world, the patterns of world trade are fixed and unchangeable. Ricardo’s classic model of comparat...read more
The status of paperless trade in Kenya
16 Dec 2021 ~ Edna Oduwo
The digitalisation of trade – as we move to paperless trade – will have a profound effect on trade management. The conclusion of the first multilateral trade agreement, the Trade Facil...read more
HS 2022: A look at the key changes and what needs to be done to adapt by 1 January 2022
13 Dec 2021 ~ Rwatida Mafurutu
The International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System or simply the Harmonized System (HS) is used globally to achieve various objectives. These objectives...read more
The AfCFTA Investment Protocol: preparations for the negotiations and expectations
09 Dec 2021 ~ Rwatida Mafurutu
The preparations for the negotiations of the Investment Protocol under the AfCFTA agreement (The Agreement) are already underway though still in the early stages. The AfCFTA envisages, eve...read more
Creating a Beverage Champion for Africa
30 Nov 2021 ~ David Christianson
Heineken’ €4 billion offer for Distell and Namibian Breweries Limited (NBL) is a big move into the African alcoholic beverages market. It is a complicated transaction which has yet to ...read more
Ambiguities about the WTO Farm Subsidies for Food Security Purposes
26 Nov 2021 ~ Kedibone Machiu, Mpho Leseka, Noncedo Vutula, Thembekile Mlangeni
The WTO negotiations on Public Stockholding (PSH) for food security purposes is one of the highly contested topics in the agriculture negotiations. PSH programmes are instruments that are ...read more
Can the ACFTA deliver urgent Outcomes?
24 Nov 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
During a recent webinar on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), some of the participants asked specific questions about how the AfCFTA will deliver concrete outcomes in terms ...read more
Why does the AfCFTA provide for Trade Remedies?
23 Nov 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The AfCFTA legal instruments contain detailed provisions on trade remedies and safeguards. Article 2 of Annex 9 to the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Goods says the “State Parties may, with...read more
Trade Remedies in the African Trade Governance Context
23 Nov 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
Trade remedies and safeguards are used by governments to deal with unfair trade practices and unforeseen consequences when trade in goods is liberalised. However, they must comply with spe...read more
Was Glasgow a Cop Out?
16 Nov 2021 ~ David Christianson
Even before the ink on the Glasgow Climate Pact had yet dried, commentators were scrambling to decide whether the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convent...read more
Prospects and Developments in the WTO talks on Export Restrictions
16 Nov 2021 ~ Kedibone Machiu, Mpho Leseka, Noncedo Vutula, Thembekile Mlangeni
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the limitations in the WTO rules on export restrictions. Consequently, the food importing countries such as Japan, Singapore, Chinese ...read more
Supporting transition – the matter of incentives, supply and demand
15 Nov 2021 ~ Anthony Leiman
Europe and the USA got rich on the back of coal fired industries, and China is still doing so. Unsurprisingly, coal rich developing nations also see it as an asset, and need incentives to ...read more
Should farmers be worried about the “Methane Pledge”?
15 Nov 2021 ~ Anthony Leiman
Should farmers be worried about the COP “Methane Pledge” to reduce methane emissions by 30% before 2030?[1] There was real concern amongst them in the UK and Ireland, especially when n...read more
Making sense of the COP26 agenda
15 Nov 2021 ~ Anthony Leiman
In December 2015, 196 participating countries at that year’s conference of parties (COP 21) signed the Paris Accord whose aim was to restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-indu...read more
What are the costs of “the end of coal”?
15 Nov 2021 ~ Anthony Leiman
On 3 November, the UK released a report stating that 190 participants across the world had committed themselves to:
end all investment in new coal power generation domestically and in...read more
COP 26’s collective action problem
01 Nov 2021 ~ David Christianson
Summit conferences can take decisive decisions. But there are occasions where their outcomes are little more than rhetoric and posturing. The 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) to be held...read more
Climate finance matters for COP 26
01 Nov 2021 ~ David Christianson
At the Conference of Parties held in Copenhagen in 2009 (COP 15), 23 developed countries pledged to commit a total of US$100 billion per year to finance measures to deal with climate chang...read more
Is a positive outcome on trade-distorting subsidies possible at the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12)?
01 Nov 2021 ~ Kedibone Machiu, Mpho Leseka, Noncedo Vutula, Thembekile Mlangeni
As the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is gearing up for the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in November/December 2021, an outcome in the agriculture negotiations is high on the agenda. ...read more
Dirty Money in domestic Economies and some of the Consequences
01 Nov 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
Financial services is one of the priority sectors on African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Trade in Services agenda. The financial services sector plays a critical role in national ...read more
South Africa bans the use of imported cement on government-funded projects
01 Nov 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The South African Government has banned the use of imported cement in state-awarded contracts. Bidders for state projects will only have their offers considered if they agree to source all...read more
What lies ahead for the AfCFTA Trade Remedies and Safeguards Regime?
01 Nov 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The legal instruments of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provide for a detailed regime to implement Trade Remedy and Safeguard measures. There are four provisions in the A...read more
Making the AfCFTA work: Some additional Requirements
01 Nov 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
States have jurisdiction over their territories. They control the movement of goods, services, capital, and persons across borders. But no country can prosper in isolation. Trade agreement...read more
International Court rules on the Maritime Boundary between Kenya and Somalia
01 Nov 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
In 1829, the English adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh wrote:
“For whosoever commands the sea commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of ...read more
Regional Economic Communities have unique Features and different Functions
01 Nov 2021 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is generating a new awareness of and an interest in the Regional Economic Communities (RECs). They are expected to play a role in achieving...read more