Download or read book Prospects and Challenges in the Formation of the COMESA EAC and SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area written by Lawrence Othieno and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The stalemate of the multilateral trade system in addressing key trade and trade related issues over the years have mounted pressure on World Trade Organisation (WTO) member states to search for alternative solutions. This pressure has directed countries' attention and efforts towards bilateral and regional trade arrangements as an immediate intervention to resolve some of the stagnated issues at the multilateral level....With regard to the proposed tripartite Free Trade Area (T-FTA) among COMESA-EAC and SADC member states, it is one among the many regional economic communities (RECs) that have emerged over the years. This paper tries to examine some of the complexities and inter-linkages in reaching a tripartite free trade agreement in serviceds and goods, as well as infrastructure development" --Abstract.

Download or read book What are the prospects and challenges of the COMESA EAC SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area written by Jeremy Raguain and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2019-07-23 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Academic Paper from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Globalization, Political Economics, grade: 77, University of Cape Town, course: Regionalism in Africa, language: English, abstract: Hailed by Dr. Calestous Juma and Dr. Francis Mangeni “as the most significant event in Africa since the establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU)” the T–FTA is understood by many to be a vital step towards establishing the African Economic Community (AEC) (Dari, 2015: 38; Juma & Mangeni, 2015). If successfully ratified and implemented the T–FTA would see the merging of Africa’s thee largest and most successful regional economic communities (REC) – SADC, COMESA and EAC. Consequently, the T–FTA would cover approximately 632 million Africans have a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of between $1.3- $1.6 trillion and a land area that could fit both the United States and China. Undoubtedly, a successfully implemented T–FTA would unleash Africa’s anaemic intra-regional trade level which remains stagnant at 12% (Juma & Mangeni, 2015). Increasing Africa’s intra-regional trade is regarded as a pivotal part of developing its underdeveloped and disconnected economies. Considering the T–FTA’s potential it is hard not to see Juma’s and Mangeni’s point. However, others are not as expectant. Reflecting on how the T–FTA has repeatedly missed its deadlines and considering the varying degrees of failure African regionalism has had in cases such as SADC, COMESA and EAC, it is evident that the T–FTA has a long and uncertain road ahead. Therefore, to comprehensively discuss and evaluate T–FTA’s potential this essay looks at Africa’s history of regional integration (RI). To do so it begins by defining and contextualising RI, regionalisation and regionalism in Africa. The essay then deliberates over ‘new’ regionalism’s variants in Africa, discerning that the T–FTA and its RECs represent ‘open’ regionalism’s clear dominance. Subsequently, the discussion analyses the ‘episodes’ of African regionalism to contextualise COMESA’s, SADC’s and EAC creation and enable an insight into Africa’s integration track record. Thus highlighting the T–FTA’s context and viability. Following this, the essay unpacks the T–FTA’s raison dêtre and then discusses the views on its, potential, progress and challenges. Ultimately, this critical appraisal of the T–FTA serves to not only understand the actualities of Africa’s largest ongoing attempt at RI, but to also show that scholars of African regionalism must strive away from Afro-optimism and Afro-pessimism towards what Mo Ibrahim calls Afro-realism.

Download or read book The Free Trade Area of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa written by Victor Murinde and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-05-15 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last ten years, while GATT and (later) WTO were actively advocating the doctrine of free trade, the world witnessed unprecedented formation of regional trading blocs. Focusing on the prospects and challenges of the free trade area of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the question of regional trade integration, the book also combines in-depth theoretical and empirical analysis with leading edge discussion of institutional and policy issues from a variety of African economies. This text makes a timely contribution not only to our understanding of the prospects and challenges of regional trading arrangements in Africa but also to the paradigm of regional trade integration in developing countries. Systematically structured, with thematically linked chapters and rigorous referencing, it is an essential guide for an international audience of academics, researchers, students and practitioners in International Trade, International Economics, Development Finance and Development Economics.

Download or read book COMESA and SADC written by Padamja Khandelwal and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regional integration has been seen in Africa as a means of encouraging trade and securing economies of scale. This paper examines in detail the prospects and challenges for trade expansion in the two most prominent arrangements in eastern and southern Africa: the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It finds that possibilities of growth in intraregional trade may be limited, but that the two arrangements offer opportunities for member countries to gain policy credibility for trade reforms and tariff liberalization and to address structural weaknesses. In this regard, the negotiation of the Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union can also have a significant impact.

Download or read book Trade Trajectories of the East African Community EAC Within the African Continental Free Trade Area AfCFTA written by Michael Masiya and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This exploratory study examines the export potential of the East African Community (EAC) within the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the impending COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA). The research aims to determine the EAC's export potential, identify key products with strong export potential, and recognize the challenges and opportunities present within this context. The EAC's active role in AfCFTA negotiations, both benefits and potential concerns associated with the AfCFTA for EAC member states, are presented. Preliminary analysis of EAC member countries (Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi) highlights significant unrealized export potential, particularly within agricultural, mineral, light manufacturing, and textile sectors. The study underscores the need for comprehensive strategies and robust policies to optimize the EAC's export potential within the AfCFTA, serving as a valuable resource for policy and strategy development.

Download or read book African Economic Integration written by Hoda Ahmed Dorra and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: In 2015, Member States of COMESA, EAC and SADC signed the Tripartite FTA to integrate their three RECs into a single market “from Cape to Cairo”. The agreement came in response to many challenges that faced the three communities in their integration programs, specifically challenges related to market integration and overlapping membership. Using qualitative data, this paper studies the economic integration model of COMESA, and the Tripartite FTA The paper argues that many of the challenges that faced COMESA within its integration plan have been accounted for within the Tripartite FTA, especially the problems related to overlapping membership and economic development of Member States. However, for the tripartite integration plan to be successful, it is necessary that it replaces the original three RECs on the long run, in addition to becoming the foundation upon which the Continental FTA is built in order to create a broader form of economic integration in the continent.

Download or read book New Panel Data Evidence on Sub Saharan Trade Integration written by Jana Riedel and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite FTA, formed in 2011, is supposed to be a milestone towards Africa's continental trade integration. This study analyzes the impact of regional integration among the Tripartite countries on their bilateral imports before that date to evaluate the latest integration efforts. We estimate an extended gravity model on a large panel of 51 African countries using yearly observations from 1995 to 2010. We proxy existing formal trade barriers by sample average data of tariffs on imports from the world as well as indicator variables for the membership in regional FTAs. We control for various other potential determinants of trade and discuss different sets of effects. We emphasize that modeling importer- and exporter-year effects matters for the results of our coefficients of interest. The estimates are not robust with regard to the estimation technique. We detect a direct positive impact on imports when joining one of the three FTAs in each of the loglinear specifications. However, an FTA status does not show a clear-cut import enhancing effect in the Poisson regressions. Whereas tariffs are not significantly correlated with imports in the loglinear framework, they show a strong negative correlation throughout the multiplicative models including several robustness checks.

Download or read book From Cape to Cairo written by and published by . This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The COMESA EAC and SADC Tri partite Free Trade Agreement written by and published by . This book was released on 2012* with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The tri-partite initiative in and for Africa has been accompanied by high levels of optimism since its political endorsement in 2008. It provides for an opportunity to resolve a host of problems with regards to regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. The overall aim of this study is to explore the prospects and challenges towards realising the Tri-partite Free Trade Area (T-FTA) in and for Africa. This study is pragmatic and implicitly seeks to uncover how the T-FTA could contribute to the African Regional Integration Project (ARIP), given the challenges that regional integration face in Africa. Regional integration has a long and rich history in Africa, which started at the inception of independence. Unfortunately, Africa's attempts at regional integration have been weak since the start and persist in its superficial nature with little developmental impact. The reasons for the lack of meaningful integration in Africa are wide-ranging and span national, regional and system level analytical viewpoints. They encompass areas such as developmental levels, political will, respect for regional architecture, overlapping membership and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). These factors impact on the integration process in Africa and explain in varied ways why there has been little comprehensive economic integration. The starting point was to define the complex concept of regional integration. The dominant factors that define and affect regional integration in this study arc that it is a state-based exercise, driven by economic integration, and influenced by the global political economy of the day. It was determined that Africa has adapted its regional integration strategies according to the shifts and influences in the global political economy on states, emanating from the post WWII period to the present day.

Download or read book Innovation Regional Integration and Development in Africa written by Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-26 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited volume discusses the role of innovation and regional integration in economic development in Africa. Over the past five decades, post-colonial African countries have struggled to break loose from the trap of poverty and underdevelopment through the adoption of various development strategies at regional, national, and continental levels. However, the results of both national and regional efforts at advancing development on the continent have been mixed. Although the importance of agglomeration and fusion of institutions have long been recognized as possible path to achieving economic development in Africa, the approach to regionalism has been unduly focused on market integration, while neglecting other dimensions such as social policy, mobility of labor, educational policy, biotechnology, regional legislation, manufacturing, innovation, and science and technology. This volume investigates the link between innovation, regional integration, and development in Africa, arguing that the immediate and long term development of Africa lies not just in the structural transformation of its economies but in the advancement of scientific and innovation capacities. The book is divided into four parts. Part I addresses the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of innovation and regional integration in Africa. Part II presents case studies which examine how regional economic institutions are fostering innovation in Africa. Part III of the book deals with sectoral issues on innovation and integrated development in Africa. Part IV sets the future research on innovation, regional integration, and development in Africa. Combining theoretical analysis and a comparative, interdisciplinary approach, this volume is appropriate for researchers and students interested in economic development, political economy, African studies, international relations, agricultural science, and geography, as well as policymakers in regional economic communities and the African Union.

Download or read book The COMESA EAC SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area written by Manuel Guilherme Júnior and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Trade and Investment in East Africa written by Binyam Afewerk Demena and published by Springer. This book was released on 2023-11-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a thorough understanding of the key policy debates on international trade and investment for development with a focus on the East African Community (EAC) to strengthen Member States’ capacity to develop policies to promote their exports’ competitiveness and diversification. Beyond Member States’, the book serves as a base for a deeper understanding of the challenges, opportunities and requirements of the intra-continental trade agreement which is now in sight with the ratification of the Tripartite (EAC-COMESA-SADC) Free Trade Area that is critical in addressing key constraints to trade in the African continent. Moreover, the lessons from this edited volume may also extend to the challenges and opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The book brings together a comprehensive overview and an evidence-based analysis that can be considered best practice in the region. The trade and investment policy analysis of constraints and opportunities aims to improve trade and competitiveness and covers macro- (economy-wide), meso- (sectoral) and micro- (firm or household) levels. This multi-level approach is crucial for understanding how current trade and investment policies limit competitiveness and diversification in order to identify more tangible policy action for overcoming such constraints. The individual contributors follow comprehensive applied empirical approaches, and each chapter generates knowledge needed to identify key challenges and opportunities focusing on research-led policy-relevant approaches that enable readers to better understand national, bilateral, and multilateral cooperation as well as policies for sustainable development in East Africa. The contributors know the EAC context very well as their engagement in policymaking goes beyond the context of the papers they are writing about. The individual chapters were developed as part of a research and capacity building programme under the aegis of ACP and EU that we implemented in 2020-2022. The research project well fits into the Frontiers in African Business Research series as we have many African contributors. The contributions matter to policymakers and academic circles. For students, the book serves as an excellent guide for understanding international trade and investment theories and gaining up-to-date knowledge on developments in the world economy and their effects on developing countries and SDGs. Trade policy researchers and students will be able to extend theories and empirical data to address new and emerging topics beyond the settings already covered in the book.

Download or read book Adopting a Harmonized Regional Approach to Customs Regulation for the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement written by Vimbai Lisa Michelle Jana and published by Anchor Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2017-11-01 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The three regional economic communities (RECs) in Eastern and Southern Africa are the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Together, they have recognised the need to work towards regional cooperation aimed at the eventual creation of a single regional economic community or Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA). This will replace the existent RECs in Eastern and Southern Africa to which the member states of these two regions have multiple membership. The TFTA region comprises a total of 27 member states which have a combined population of 527 million people and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of USD 624 billion. These statistics translate into a potential regional economic powerhouse for Eastern and Southern Africa. One of the major goals of the TFTA is to harmonise trade arrangements among the three RECs, improve the movement of goods and persons within the single integrated region, facilitate the joint implementation of regional infrastructure projects and enhance co-operation of member states. This is a laudable initiative by the member states of the three RECs and it is recognised that regional integration is the first step towards integration into a multilateral trading system. For the TFTA member states, it is crucial that there is an awareness to move towards a review of domestic customs legislation and policy and to develop regional, supranational legislation and regulations in order to gain a stronger competitive edge in the global market. This study shies away from proposing a „quick fix? or „instant benefit? to the harmonisation of TFTA member states customs legislative frameworks and policies and the development of a single automated, interoperable electronic customs system. Rather, it places its focus on long-term sustainable benefits which will be realised over time. The harmonisation of TFTA member state customs legislative policies and the resultant Information and Communications Technology (ICT) reforms to the customs processes of the TFTA member states, though not immediate or short-term, will strategically position the region to conduct business in an increasingly volume driven, fast paced, electronic global economy.

Download or read book African Free Trade Agreements and Intellectual Property written by Michael Blakeney and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2024-02-12 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This informative book examines the intellectual property (IP) provisions of the sub-regional and continental Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that have been implemented in Africa to facilitate trade and promote economic integration. Michael Blakeney and Getachew Mengistie Alemu explain how FTAs can be used when setting IP standards in order to influence the ongoing effort to develop effective international agreements with Africa.

Download or read book The Development of Africa written by Olayinka Akanle and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-10-25 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume analyses many of the real development challenges confronting the African continent, presenting fresh and current objective examinations, narratives, interpretations and pathways to the continent’s development. It interrogates and answers established, critical, current and pragmatic problems confronting Africa today, and provides workable pathways out of the development problems, so that scholarship, policy and practice will be positively impacted. This volume adds great depth and extended breadth to the knowledge base on development of Africa. It provides excellent resources for academics, scholars, student, policy makers and all those interested in issues affecting Africa’s development.

Download or read book The African Continental Free Trade Area Potential Economic Impact and Challenges written by Mr.Lisandro Abrego and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2020-05-13 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political momentum towards Africa-wide free trade has been intensifying. In March 2018, over 40 countries signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. Once fully implemented, the AfCFTA is expected to cover all 55 African countries, with a combined GDP of about US$2.2 trillion. This SDN takes stock of recent trade developments in Sub-Saharan Africa and assesses the potential benefits and costs of the AfCFTA, as well as challenges to its successful implementation. In addition to increased trade flows both in existing and new products, the AfCFTA has the potential to generate substantial economic benefits for African countries. These benefits include higher income arising from increased efficiency and productivity from improved resource allocation, higher cross-border investment flows, and technology transfers. Besides lowering import tariffs, to ensure these benefits, African countries will need reduce other trade barriers by making more efficient their customs procedures, reducing their wide infrastructure gaps, and improving their business climates. At the same time, policy measures should be taken to mitigate the differential impact of trade liberalization on certain groups as resources are reallocated in the economy and activities migrate to locations with comparatively lower costs.

Download or read book Assessing Regional Integration in Africa V written by and published by UN. This book was released on 2012 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fifth of the series (ARIA/V) has come at a time of renewed enthusiasm for shortening the period of the vision of the Abuja Treaty. Its overall objective is to provide an analytical research publication that defines frameworks for African Governments, the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities, towards accelerating the establishment of the African Common Market through: the speedy removal of all tariff and non-tariff barriers, obstacles to free movement of people, investments and factors of production in general across Africa, and through fast-tracking the creation of an African continental Free Trade Area