Discussions

On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU). The parties then started negotiations on a Withdrawal Agreement,[1] followed by a new trade deal. B...

The new EU-UK trade relationship will be very different from when the UK was a Member State. Major governance challenges lie ahead. Concluding a trade agreement is one thing, imple...

The legal systems of African countries reflect their history, colonial heritages, customary and other norms. The differences are also evident in the area of international contracts...

Customs administration systems have to adapt to changes in the trading environment. The modernisation of customs administration systems is fundamental to ensure that trade continue...

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement may be in force since 30 May 2019, but this project is still work in progress. What remains outstanding? What can be expe...

Trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is set to begin. It has been decided to start implementing aspects of the AfCFTA on 1 January 2021, though certain matt...

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement is in force since 30 May 2019. However, trade under new preferential rules has not yet begun. The reason is that the nego...

What must the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) actually bring about? How will this happen and when? The AfCFTA will be “ready for business” once he outstanding nego...

There are high expectations locally and internationally about the prospects of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The benefits for integration and rules-based trade ...

It has been announced that the African Union (AU) Ministers of Trade (AMOT) will be requested to engage the new US Administration on “negotiations” for a successor trade a...

The United Kingdom (UK) is one of South Africa’s key trade partners. This remains so during the Covid-19 pandemic. Through cycles of social distancing measures (lockdowns) in bot...

Kenya and South Africa have no trade agreement currently. Trade between the two countries is conducted under the most-favoured-nation – World Trade Organization – rules. Kenya ...

Collating and disseminating foreign direct investment (FDI) statistics and related information is important for many reasons. It helps government officials and policy makers formul...

Eswatini is one of the few African countries that has reported their 2020 monthly trade data thus far. Eswatini is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Southern Afri...

Madagascar is one of the few African countries that has reported their monthly 2020 data thus far. Madagascar is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and two regional eco...

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic brought an unprecedented demand for medical products (COVID-19 medical supplies) required to curb the spread of the virus. COVID-19 medical supp...

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) consists of 16 members – 13 of which are in a free trade area (FTA). The SADC FTA members are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madag...

Since the beginning of this year the United Kingdom (UK) ceased to be a member of the European Union (EU). The Withdrawal Agreement entered into force on 31 January 2020. However, ...

The Southern African Customs Union (SACU), comprising Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa, is a customs union (CU) with duty-free[1] intra-SACU trade and a common...

The Biden administration will have many urgent matters in its in-tray. Relations with specific foreign governments might not be at the top of that stack, but the departure of Presi...