Half a decade after 22 African countries signed the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) agreement, only 8 countries have ratified the treaty.
Inked back in June of 2015 in the northern African state of Egypt, the agreement is meant to unify previously existing regional trade bodies the EAC, SADC and Comesa. A noble cause backed by an elaborate list of merits.
This latest free trade pact, the TFTA is an engine to foster intra-Africa trade that is seen as a vehicle to widen Africa trade markets within the continent itself. It is also envisioned to attract more investment, catalyze the development of regional infrastructure and very importantly, give member states a competitive trading age with the rest of the World.
Sounds ice cream coated candy, sweet deal, but five years down the road majority of the member countries remain reluctant to ratify it, why? It begs the question, is another regional trade body really necessary?
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat says yes.
Other than the economic value of the integration, SADC Secretariat maintains that it is key to facilitate and accelerate the long coveted continental integration.
TFTA is necessary: Making the point, on video call
Owing to the threat of the Corona-virus, SADC Executive Secretary Dr Stergomena Tax was forced to make her argument for TFTA on video call. For the first time since its formation, the SADC Council of Ministers held its generally meeting on a video conference call mid last month.
She argued that the Tripartite Free Trade Area is a key element to realizing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that has thus far garnered more enthusiasm from across the continent.
She insisted that it is vital for SADC member countries to get on board and ratify the deal and decried the fact that only 3 SADC countries have ratified the pact.
Local media quotes the SADC Executive Secretary emphasizing that, “…while we proceed with the Continental Free Trade Area, we should not lose sight of the Tripartite Free Trade Area as it is crucial to the realization of the AfCFTA.”
The outcome of her plea call to SADC countries and the rest of the continent remains to be seen. No timelines have been set and countries are free to ratify at will which leaves a lot of wiggle room and delays.
While the other 17 countries that signed the TFTA deal continue to lament ratifying it, the Secretariat believes it’s a matter of when and not if, they will all accent the pact.
Meanwhile, the TFTA, 22 African nations strong made up of a market of more than 600 million people is a very lucrative deal if there ever was one. The pact has the capacity to muster a USD1.2 trillion free trade area.
Once ratified, it will eliminate trade barriers across the 22 countries stretching the entire length of the continent. Further, as argued by the SADC top Executive Dr. Tax, it will also open doors for the free movement of not only goods but people as well making social integration among these nations a reality.
So why the reluctance to ratify such a promising deal?
Well on hand there is the matter of replication or rather duplication. You see there are already numerous regional pacts across the continent and some are of the view they are now just colliding with each other.
For example, you have the East African Community (EAC) on the East coast of Africa and then you have the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the East-South of Africa. Several members of the EAC, like Tanzania, are also in the SADC and so already enjoy the benefits of the Southern bloc deal.
However, there are others that are in the EAC but not in the SADC bloc and they would like a piece of that Southern market deal and so as you would expect those countries have readily ratified the pact.
Take Rwanda for instance, it’s the latest to ratify the TFTA pact which will in effect open the Southern borders to Rwandan traders tariff free. However, as mentioned, Tanzania on the other hand, already has access to both the EAC and the SADC free trade areas and unlike Rwanda, Tanzania is yet to ratify the TFTA deal.
Then there is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which was accented last year in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. This continent wide pact is ratified by 21 countries and gives 100 percent tax exemption for all goods moved over a five year transition period.
The AfCFTA trade deal alone is worth well over USD3 trillion per year mustering a market of 1.2 billion people strong, with no tariff and no border restrictions. So why bother with another, similar regional pact?
However, supporters say, these regional and continental deals do not counteract nor do they overlap rather, they complement each other.
https://theexchange.africa/countries/tanzania/tanzanians-urged-to-gear-up-for-tripartite-free-trade-area/
Countries that have signed TFTA
Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Countries that have ratified TFTA
- Namibia
- South Africa
- Botswana
- Burundi
- Kenya
- Egypt
- Rwanda
- Uganda.
The three SADC member states that have ratified the TFTA deal are Namibia, South Africa and Botswana.
“The Secretariat continued to work with the three remaining member states to be part of the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA), as we align the SADC FTA to the Tripartite and continental initiatives,” she noted.