Blog
AfCFTA: What next for services trade?
17 May 2019 ~ Ashly Hope (Volunteer)
Now that the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has a firm date for entry into force, we must turn our minds to the operational phase of the AfCFTA. In...read more
How can the AfCFTA Investment Protocol advance the realisation of the AfCFTA objectives?
17 May 2019 ~ Talkmore Chidede
The AfCFTA Agreement will include a protocol on investment – to be negotiated in phase II. Meanwhile, the technical issues on investment are under consideration, and the draft legal text...read more
The proposed AfCFTA Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights
17 May 2019 ~ Abrie du Plessis
The AfCFTA Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) will be negotiated during Phase II. The draft legal text has to be submitted to the January 2021 Session of the AU Assembly for ad...read more
The proposed AfCFTA online non-tariff barrier reporting, monitoring and eliminating mechanism
17 May 2019 ~ Vonesai Hove
How will it work? What are stakeholders expecting from this mechanism?
The AFCFTA enters into force on 30th May 2019 with high expectations from the continental stakeholders particularly ...read more
Cooperation on competition in the AfCFTA
17 May 2019 ~ Trudi Hartzenberg
Competition law is an essential component of market and, overall economic governance. Its aim is to promote competition, to enhance market outcomes for consumers and firms. Deeper integrat...read more
The Brexit Saga is far from over
07 May 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
Brexit has become a political and constitutional fiasco. It may also have dire consequences for business. Firms must deal with lingering uncertainty and the possibility of forfeiting the b...read more
President Ramaphosa’s 2019 State of the Nation Address
01 Mar 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
A State of the Nation Address (SONA) is not like a formal contract, especially not in an election year. It cannot be “enforced”. But the one delivered by President Ramaphosa on 7 Febru...read more
How will South Africa engage the Region, the Continent and the World?
01 Mar 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
In the African context, South Africa is a trading nation. What does the State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2019 say about South Africa’s trade policy? President Ramaphosa emphasised the ...read more
Good Governance is vital… but is easier said than done once the State has been captured
01 Mar 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
Those who observe South Africa from afar are often puzzled by the fact that despite all the evidence, not a single person has yet been prosecuted and convicted for a crime associated with ...read more
The Energy Crisis: How will Investors look at South Africa now?
01 Mar 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
South Africa has traditionally been associated with Africa’s best infrastructure, giving it an obvious advantage in terms of attracting investment and boosting further industrialization....read more
How Can Blockchain Support Intra-African Trade?
21 Feb 2019 ~ John Stuart
‘Blockchain’ – or Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) – is a technology whereby a ledger of transactions, or other form or record, is maintained electronically by being distributed...read more
Constitutional Court condemns South Africa’s role in demise of SADC Tribunal
15 Feb 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
In December 2018, the South African Constitutional Court ruled that the participation of the South African President in the decision to abolish the Southern African Development Community (...read more
Prospects for reforming/strengthening the WTO
14 Feb 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
Media coverage of the discussions at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos (which combined globalization issues with the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”) sketched a mixed and at time...read more
Where does the AfCFTA Process stand and what happens next?
23 Jan 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
African leaders held an Extraordinary Summit on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) from 17-21 March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda, during which the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA...read more
Updates from the 7th African Ministers of Trade Meeting (12-13 December 2018)
23 Jan 2019 ~ Talkmore Chidede
African Union Ministers of Trade (AMOT) held their 7th meeting in Egypt from 12-13 December 2018. The AMOT is a meeting African Union member states’ ministers responsible for trade. The ...read more
Brexit after the Prime Minister’s Defeat
18 Jan 2019 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
After a devastating defeat for Theresa May, the Brexit clock keeps ticking. On Tuesday 15 January, the House of Commons rejected her Bill on the Withdrawal Agreement with the European Unio...read more
SACU’s Trade Facilitation Programme: Talking Regional Customs Modernisation
14 Dec 2018 ~ Paulina M. Elago
Trade Facilitation in SACU
Generally, the Trade Facilitation process intends to reduce impediments and bottlenecks in cross-border trade and thus promote a seamless movement of goods betw...read more
Southern African Customs Union (SACU)’s trade and tariff profile
14 Dec 2018 ~ Talkmore Chidede
The members of SACU are Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia and South Africa. SACU’s objectives include to, inter alia, facilitate cross-border movement of goods between member sta...read more
What is a Customs Union like SACU about?
14 Dec 2018 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
From a legal and technical point of view the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a Customs Union (CU) and an international organization with legal personality. Since a CU is an except...read more
Revenue sharing in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU)
14 Dec 2018 ~ Talkmore Chidede
All customs, excise and additional duties (trade taxes) collected in the SACU Common Customs Area are paid into the Common Revenue Pool and shared among member states. Member states’ sha...read more
SACU’s operational Challenge
14 Dec 2018 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
What does the 2002 SACU Agreement promise in terms of how the Organization would function? What did the Member States subsequently do in order to ensure that the agreed formula would be im...read more
The Process for Amending or Reviewing the SACU Agreement
14 Dec 2018 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
There are strong indications that the SACU Agreement may be amended – or “reviewed” – during the next year.[1] Why has this become necessary and what would such a process entail? H...read more
Reflections on COP24
11 Dec 2018 ~ Gavin van der Nest
The 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (COP24) is currently taking place in Katowice, Poland from 2-14 December 2018. COP24 is hosted under th...read more
Investor-state dispute settlement in Africa and the AfCFTA Investment Protocol
11 Dec 2018 ~ Talkmore Chidede
African countries have frequently appeared as respondents before international arbitration tribunals for violating their investment treaty obligations, mostly provisions on expropriation. ...read more
The Buenos Aires G20 Meeting: Has Rules-based global Trade survived?
11 Dec 2018 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The communiqué issued at the end of the Group of 20 meeting in Buenos Aires recently (30 November and 1 December 2018) reads like the to-do list for the world’s leading countries. It al...read more
Where to for Africa’s Silicon Valley?
27 Nov 2018 ~ John Stuart
Approximately a year ago, tralac published a working paper that overviewed South Africa’s software development industry cluster in the Western Cape Province[1]. The Western Cape Software...read more
Termination of the South Africa-Zimbabwe bilateral trade agreement: What does it mean for South Africa-Zimbabwe trade?
20 Nov 2018 ~ Elisha Tshuma
The Bilateral Trade Agreement between South Africa and Zimbabwe will be terminated on 20 November 2018. The termination of the Agreement will affect certain imports from South Africa ...read more
Assuring Continuation of Effective WTO Dispute Settlement
18 Nov 2018 ~ Alan Wolff
Until the past few years, for many there was widespread complacency over the existence and state of the liberal world trading system. If progress was needed that could not be achieved at t...read more
Regional Integration as a building block for the Multilateral Trading System
18 Nov 2018 ~ Edwini Kessie
The signing of the Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) by African countries earlier this year was a momentous decision which could potentially alter the economic growth trajectory of...read more
American mid-term Elections: What International Implications?
18 Nov 2018 ~ Gerhard Erasmus
The American mid-term elections took place during the first week of November 2018 and were keenly watched. Many have hoped that control by the Democratic Party of the House of Representati...read more