Blog
Use of Electronic Certificates of Origin now and beyond COVID-19 in intra-African Trade
Rwatida Mafurutu
29 Jun 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, it continues to restrain free movement of people, goods and services across African borders to unprecedented levels. Countries find themselves confronted... read more 
Beyond SDGs: The role of African youth in reaping demographic dividends
George Lwanda
29 Jun 2020
A good starting point in the discourse on youth is how to define the population group that is considered youth. This is because there exists no globally accepted definition of the youth po... read more 
Digitalise transport and trade procedures to ease the supply of essential goods during COVID-19 and beyond
Trudi Hartzenberg, Talkmore Chidede
29 Jun 2020
Governments across the world have implemented measures to stem the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Trade-related measures have been implemented particularly to ensure the contin... read more 
How Should the Covid-19 Pandemic Inform Economic and Trade Policy?
John Stuart
29 Jun 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on economic activity globally. The World Trade Organization estimated in April that world trade would fall by between 13 and 32% in 2020, ... read more 
EU investment governance developments: Implications for African countries
Talkmore Chidede
25 Jun 2020
The European Union (EU) investment policy is a model that many other countries have viewed as a standard or best practice in investment governance and have thus sought to emulate. Most of ... read more 
An Agenda for the AfCFTA Protocol on E-Commerce
Ify Ogo
25 Jun 2020
E-commerce has been included in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) through a decision of the African Union Heads of State and Government Assembly in February 2020[1] and will... read more 
South Africa’s April 2020 trade statistics – reduced exports lead to a significant trade deficit
Willemien Viljoen
16 Jun 2020
South Africa’s March 2020 trade data[1] showed that measures adopted by its global trade partners to curb the spread of COVID-19 mainly impacted South Africa’s imports. Main source mar... read more 
Why it may be better not to rush the Implementation of the AfCFTA now
Trudi Hartzenberg, Gerhard Erasmus
25 May 2020
There have been urgent calls for completing the outstanding African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) negotiations and to implement this new continental free trade regime as soon as pos... read more 
Some reflections on Africa Day 2020, COVID-19 and the AfCFTA
Trudi Hartzenberg
25 May 2020
We will all remember Africa Day 2020. Africa Day, which we have been celebrating on 25 May each year since the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, and its tra... read more 
The Implications of COVID-19 for regional trade
Gerhard Erasmus
25 May 2020
COVID-19 is a global pandemic and will have severe implications for African nations. Inadequate public facilities, wide-spread poverty and crowded living conditions make them particularly ... read more 
COVID-19 and its implications for women
Bineswaree Aruna Bolaky, Darsheenee Ramnauth
25 May 2020
In a recent op-ed, Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook drew attention to the “double-double shift” that COVID-19 is imposing on women.[1] Women have multiple roles... read more 
EAC Regional response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Geoffrey Osoro
25 May 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an impact on the East African Community (EAC) economies both directly and indirectly as a result of the measures being taken currently to contain the sprea... read more 
The Pandemic and its Aftermath: The Role of Trade Policy
Patrick Low
19 May 2020
Received wisdom from a wide spectrum of commentators is that our post-COVID-19 world is going to be different from the one the virus invaded. Predictions vary considerably as to what is go... read more 
South Africa’s trade for March 2020 – significant trade surplus shows the initial impact of COVID-19 on imports
Willemien Viljoen
13 May 2020
On 30 April 2020, the South African Revenue Services (SARS) released South Africa’s latest official trade data – trade for March 2020. The data shows some of the initial impact of the ... read more 
South Africa’s new status as a ‘developed country’ for purposes of United States’ subsidies and countervailing duty investigations
Eckart Naumann
04 May 2020
Earlier this year, on 10 February 2020, the United States announced changes to the way in which it would conduct aspects of its trade remedy investigations, including that South Africa (an... read more 
South African tourism and the coronavirus pandemic
David Christianson
28 Apr 2020
SA tourism heads for bleak winter and beyond Worldwide lock-downs in response to the coronavirus pandemic have hit the tourism industry especially hard. There have been no partial exempti... read more 
Understanding Africa’s Place in Regionalised Global Trade
John Stuart
23 Apr 2020
Since the era of the internet began, globalisation has gathered pace and the countries of the world have become more economically integrated. The significant improvements in communications... read more 
Coronavirus and freight forwarding in SADC
Elisha Tshuma
09 Apr 2020
South Africa is the economic powerhouse in the region. Most countries rely on South Africa, in some way, for their imports. They import goods from South Africa and some import goods from g... read more 
COVID-19 impact on investment in Africa
Talkmore Chidede
07 Apr 2020
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic impacts on foreign direct investment (FDI) across the world. In 2019, UNCTAD anticipated global FDI flows to rise marginally in 2020.[1] However, due to... read more 
Recovery from the Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: What Role for Trade?
Beatrice Chaytor, Ify Ogo
07 Apr 2020
The economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on African countries will be known only after the situation is brought under control. There will be immediate shocks to livelihoods, as well a... read more