The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) is a partially implemented African free trade agreement between the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC). [1] The 29 tripartite member/partner countries represent 53% of the African Union's membership, more than 60% of continental GDP ($1.88 trillion), and a combined population of 800 million. [2]
Negotiations between the three trade blocs first began in June 2011. [1] On June 10, 2015, a deal was signed in Egypt, pending ratification by the participating countries. [3]
The TFTA entered into force on July 25, 2024, after the requirement of 14 countries ratifying the agreement had been met. [2] [4] The 14 countries that now trade under the TFTA are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Egypt, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, accounting for 75% of tripartite GDP in 2022. Djibouti has also ratified the agreement. [2]
The TFTA is intended to become part of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which was kickstarted in 2015 at the 25th African Union Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa and is to include all 54 African Union states as members of the free trade area. [5]
Country | Current Trade Zone(s) |
---|---|
Angola | SADC |
Botswana | SADC |
Burundi | COMESA & EAC |
Comoros | COMESA |
Djibouti | COMESA |
Democratic Republic of the Congo | COMESA & SADC |
Egypt | COMESA |
Eritrea | COMESA |
Eswatini | COMESA & SADC |
Ethiopia | COMESA |
Kenya | COMESA & EAC |
Lesotho | SADC |
Libya | COMESA |
Madagascar | COMESA & SADC |
Malawi | COMESA & SADC |
Mauritius | COMESA & SADC |
Mozambique | SADC |
Namibia | SADC |
Rwanda | COMESA & EAC |
Seychelles | COMESA & SADC |
Somalia | COMESA & EAC |
South Africa | SADC |
South Sudan | EAC |
Sudan | COMESA |
Tanzania | SADC & EAC |
Tunisia | COMESA |
Uganda | COMESA & EAC |
Zambia | COMESA & SADC |
Zimbabwe | COMESA & SADC |
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana.
The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation in East Africa. The EAC's membership consists of eight states: Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. Salva Kiir Mayardit, the president of South Sudan, is the current EAC chairman. The organisation was founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, and was revived on 7th July 2000. The main objective of the EAC is to foster regional economic integration.
The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Its headquarters are in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. It was established in 1910.
The African Economic Community (AEC) is an organization of African Union states establishing grounds for mutual economic development among the majority of African states. The stated goals of the organization include the creation of free trade areas, customs unions, a single market, a central bank, and a common currency thus establishing an economic and monetary union.
The Economic Community of Central African States is an Economic Community of the African Union for promotion of regional economic co-operation in Central Africa. It "aims to achieve collective autonomy, raise the standard of living of its populations and maintain economic stability through harmonious cooperation".
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are a scheme to create a free trade area (FTA) between the European Union and other countries. They are a response to continuing criticism that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade agreements offered by the EU are incompatible with WTO rules. The EPAs date back to the signing of the Cotonou Agreement. The EPAs with the different regions are at different states of play. The EU has signed EPAs with the following countries: the Southern African Development Community (SADC), ECOWAS, six countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, Cameroon, four Pacific states, and the CARIFORUM states. Their defining characteristic is that they open up exports to the EU immediately, while exports to the partner regions is opened up only partially and over transitioning periods.
The East African Federation is a proposed federal sovereign state consisting of the eight member states of East African Community in the African Great Lakes region – Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Somalia and Uganda. The idea of this federation has existed since the early 1960s but has not yet come to fruition for several reasons. In September 2018, a committee was formed to begin the process of drafting a regional constitution, and a draft constitution for the confederation was set to be written by the end of 2021 with its implementation by 2023. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans to draft and implement a constitution. On 9 May 2023, the drafting of the constitution resumed with a 20-day consultation with local stakeholders in Kenya.
The Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa group together individual countries in subregions for the purposes of achieving greater economic integration. They are described as the "building blocks" of the African Union and are also central to the strategy for implementing the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
The African Free Trade Zone (AFTZ) is a free trade zone announced at the EAC-SADC-COMESA Summit on 22 October 2008 by the heads of Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC). The African Free Trade Zone is also referred to as the African Free Trade Area in some official documents and press releases.
Robert Haydn Davies was minister of trade and industry of South Africa from 2009 to 2019.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional economic community in Africa with twenty-one member states stretching from Tunisia to Eswatini. COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981. Nine of the member states formed a free trade area in 2000, with Rwanda and Burundi joining the FTA in 2004, the Comoros and Libya in 2006, Seychelles in 2009, Uganda in 2012 and Tunisia in 2018.
Egypt–Kenya relations are bilateral relations between Egypt and Kenya. The two nations primarily maintain trade ties.
Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world. But it spends 1% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on research and development (R&D), making it have one of the highest ratios in Africa. The country has 93% of its population still lacking access to electricity, 47% of whom have improved sanitation, and one in four adults lacks any form of family planning.
This article examines trends and developments in science and technology in Zimbabwe since 2009.
Science and technology in Tanzania describes developments and trends in higher education, science, technology, innovation policy, and governance in the United Republic of Tanzania since the turn of the century.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area encompassing most of Africa. It was established in 2018 by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which has 43 parties and another 11 signatories, making it the largest free-trade area by number of member states, after the World Trade Organization, and the largest in population and geographic size, spanning 1.3 billion people across the world's second largest continent.
Countries of the East African Community (EAC) include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan. These nations fall below par in different measures of economic activities such as GDP per capita, population below the poverty line, unemployment, and trade. The East African Community has made an effort to bolster trade through enhancing co-operation economically, socially, and politically within the member nations. "The aim of EAC is to gradually establish among themselves a Customs Union, a Common Market, a Monetary Union, and ultimately a Political Federation of the East African States." East African Community countries also have active trade to other parts of the world, like the European Union. Each country is a part of the World Trade Organization except for South Sudan who remains out of this conglomeration. As of 2014, these six countries have a combined GDP of $159.5 billion, GDP per capita of $918, total population of 168.5 million, total import $40.2 billion, and total export $13.6 billion. These countries become much stronger as a part of the community as they become a larger market for trade outside of the bloc. Also, the bloc allows for free trade between the member countries helping not only producers who have more options to sell their product but also consumers who have more cheap goods. It is always important for fish to be in fresh water lakes
Wamkele Mene is the Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. In February 2020, he was elected as the first Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat.
The Southern African Development Community Regional Trunk Road Network or SADC RTRN is a trans nation road network across Southern Africa. The projects in Africa being developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (ADB), and the African Union in conjunction with the Southern African Development Community. They aim to promote trade and alleviate poverty in Africa through highway infrastructure development and the management of road-based trade corridors.