Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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