Addis Ababa, 7 July 2014 (ECA) - The African Trade Policy Centre of the Economic Commission for Africa, in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the Secretariat of the Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) organized a consultative meeting on the Continental Free Trade Area and Boosting Intra-African Trade on 30-31 May 2014.
Implementation of the SADC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) began in 2000, and was launched in August 2008 fulfilling one of the objectives set under the Protocol on Trade signed in 1996. The FTA is a step along the path towards deeper regional economic integration – which is central to the strategy and objectives of SADC. The FTA is being implemented in a region highly decimated by the HIV and AIDS epidemic. HIV prevalence rates amongst adults in SADC is 11.4% but varies significantly from country to country, ranging from 26.1% in Swaziland (the highest in the world) to 2.1% in Angola.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) dates back from the formation in 1975 of the Frontline States which originally consisted of Botswana, Mozambique and Tanzania, Angola joined in 1976. The Frontline States were constituted to fight against colonialism, racism and white minority rule. The group changed into the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) in 1980 following the July 1979 Arusha Conference which agreed to launch the SADCC.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) introduced its trade protocol in the year 2000 to promote intra regional trade in goods and services among its member states (MS) as well as finance and investments. The overall goal of establishing the STP is to ensure efficient production of goods and services and trade across member states in particular. The ultimate goal of the STP is to reduce poverty and to enhance economic growth within the region.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a preferential arrangement governing over U.S.-African trade and investment relations since the year 2000. The legislation provides for preferential treatment of exports from Africa in the form of duty-free and largely quota-free access to US markets. It has been amended a number of times, to make substantial changes to the original provisions and also to extend the life of the Act until September 2015.
Addis Ababa, 12 September 2013 (ECA) - At the PTA Bank’s 29 th Annual General Meeting in Addis Ababa, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Abdalla Hamdok said the share of intra-African trade “could more than double within the next 10 years if the Continental Free Trade Area is implemented by 2017, along with improvement of customs procedures, port handling and inland transport.”