MINISTRY OF COMMERCE TO FACILITATE AFCFTA DIALOGUE

MBABANE – The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade has announced the visit of Wamkele Mene, the Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), for a dialogue  on how to leverage opportunities.

According to a statement by the ministry, among other things, Mene will engage with stakeholders from both the private and public sectors, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), together with women and youth-led enterprises.

Implementation

The dialogue to be facilitated by the ministry will also look at the implementation of the AfCFTA and discuss plans about how the various African Union (AU) counties can leverage the free trade agreement as a catalyst for development amid the ever-changing geopolitical and economic alignments. The secretary’s visit will be from May 30 to 31, 2024. Worth noting is that Eswatini is also a member of the agreement. The AfCFTA came into effect on January 1, 2021 in Eswatini, following a signing and ratification process by AU member states with an overall plan to boost intra African Trade. The AfCFTA is the largest free trade area in the world and is set to give products access to a market of over 1 billion people, with a combined GDP of over US$3.4 trillion.

Register

After the launch of the agreement, local traders went on to register their interests of being part of the groundbreaking initiative and the International Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, in collaboration with the AfCFTA secretariat, the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS), and the Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA), promised to engage stakeholders to assist them with increasing their market in the continent. The ministry further emphasised that the trade agreement offers more than just market access, but also addresses critical issues, such as intellectual property, competition policy, digital trade and the participation of women and the youth in trade, among other things.

The upcoming dialogue aims to involve all players who are currently involved in the exports of goods and services and those willing to explore this avenue. “In light of this, the secretariat will be scheduling a meeting with the private sector on May 31, 2024. We will provide all the details through official channels to ensure a seamless and productive engagement,” reads the statement in part. On Monday, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo, announced that to export under the AfCFTA and take advantage of preferences, exporters were required to apply and register with the ERS to be granted the certificate of origin (CoO).

Originating

Khumalo said the CoO is a customs document that confers that products are originating from Eswatini and are eligible for preferences. For more information on the registration process, interested parties may email enquiries to NNxumalo@ers.org.sz. It is worth noting that the country’s AfCFTA implementation strategy was launched on March 7, 2024, under the vision to provide a strategic roadmap for Eswatini to maximise benefits under the AfCFTA, targeting an annual regional export growth of 10 per cent.

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