Mnangagwa gets kudos for free trade policies

Published: 17 December 2018

President Mnangagwa's Second Republic has received high plaudits for pushing initiatives that promote free trade and movement across borders in the Southern African region.

Zimbabwe, among other initiatives, is pushing for the establishment of one-stop border posts, with Government engaging South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia over the matter. Plans are set for the establishment of one-stop border posts at Beitbridge, Victoria Falls and Kazungula while the Chirundu One-Stop Border Post has seen traffic flow to the north increasing.

In an interview during the Intra-African Trade Fair and Conference at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre and the Al Manara Conference Centre in Cairo, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Regional Integration and Trade Division Coordinator Mr David Luke said Zimbabwe was leading in establishing the infrastructure required for intra-African trade.

"One of the key aspects to the success of the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade has to do with infrastructure.

"We are starting from scratch and only if the infrastructure is refurbished and upgraded will we see the flow of intra-State increasing on the continent," he said.

Mr Luke said the renovation of the Beitbridge Border Post promotes trade in Africa.

"We do not want the situation were traders, having gone through the cost of check controls, customs, security and all that and this is repeated 100m away.

"So you do not need control, you do need cooperation on how these controls are being applied. Actually, the ACFTA agreement provides for this and there are three key annexes and protocols on trading goods that is part the ACFTA agreement," he said.

President Mnangagwa joined 43 other African Heads of State in signing the ACFTA agreement in Kigali, Rwanda, in March this year. Mr Luke said while 44 countries signed the agreement in Rwanda and an additional five have appended their signatures, bringing the total to 49.

"We need 22 countries for the agreement to go into force, so there is strong momentum behind the ratification and we know that there are at least 14 or 15 very active ratification processes underway that are close to completion," he said.

The average rate of ratification of an Africa Union Treaty is five years Six countries have not signed the agreement with Nigeria, one of the biggest economies on the continent, in the process of consultations.

"We do expect Nigeria to come on board and, eventually, we do expect all the AU member states to come on board, at least the 49, and Nigeria making them 50."

Mr Luke said UNECA had agreed with Government for a partnership to prepare a roadmap for the implementation of the ACFTA including the ratification process.

"The discussions are still at an early stage, so I do not have more information except that Zimbabwe has responded positively and it signals that Zimbabwe wants to move along with this but needs a technical partner to deal with issues that may be of concern," he said.

Zimbabwe, like Djibouti, Zambia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Madagascar and Sudan, had expressed reservations on reducing tariffs at the level of ambition of 90 percent of tariff lines to be eliminated over five years.

This also entailed that 10 percent of the goods would be designated between sensitive and excluded products while for sensitive products, tariffs would be eliminated over 13 years while there would be no tariff elimination on excluded products.

The group of seven, which is now six after the withdrawal of Djibouti, were allowed a level of ambition of 85 percent and 15 years.

Meetings held here have also agreed that out of the 10 percent, seven percent sensitive products, tariffs will be reduced over 13 years and there will be no tariff elimination on three percent of tariff lines. The countries were concerned if the ACFTA does not undermine the ability of the countries to industrialise.

In a separate interviews, Industry and Commerce Minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu confirmed Government efforts at finalising the agreement on the ACFTA.

"The agreement has to be ready for the summit scheduled for February and the whole essence is that within Africa we want to promote trade. We want to reduce barriers to trade. We want to do away with most tariffs that are entering trade within the continent.

"We are almost getting there as Zimbabwe. Of course, we are also worried about our level of industrialisation. The technology that we are using because opening up has implications on competition if your products are not very competitive you are likely to end up being an importer," he said.
- the herald

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