On 10 June 2016, the EU and six countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA Group – comprising Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS), South Africa and Mozambique – signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the first of its kind between the EU and an African region pursuing the objective of economic integration. The signature took place in Kasane, Botswana. Provisional implementation commenced on 10 October 2016 between the EU and South Africa and the BLNS.

Following ratification of the Agreement in April 2017, Mozambique is now provisionally implementing the SADC-EU EPA, making this the first regional EPA in Africa to become fully operational. Under the EPA, goods from Mozambique exported to the EU will not incur customs duties, while Mozambique will progressively eliminate or reduce its customs duties on imports from the EU.

Find out more about the SADC-EU EPA here.