Times Of Swaziland: AFRICAN MARKETS GLIMMER  OF HOPE FOR ESWATINI

AFRICAN MARKETS GLIMMER  OF HOPE FOR ESWATINI
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  BY KWANELE DHLADHLA   on 06/12/2018 05:11:00


MBABANE – Hopes for Eswatini to tap into the multibillion African trade
markets for goods and services continue to upscale.
This follows an approval for ratification agreement that establishes the African
Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by the kingdom’s major trading partner,
South Africa.  In 2017 only, South Africa imported 67 per cent of total Eswatini
exports.
Total exports of goods by the kingdom, which could increase should the agreement
come into force, stood at approximately E25.5 billion to the world according to
International Trade Centre’s (ITC) Trade Map.
So far, 49 countries have signed the agreement including Eswatini. However, only
Kenya, Ghana, Eswatini, Chad, Niger, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Guinea Conakry
have deposited their instruments of ratification. The neighbouring republic,
whose currency (Rand) is pegged to the  Lilangeni, will soon deposit their
instruments of ratification.
The AfCFTA was launched during an extraordinary summit of African Union (AU)
Heads of State and government, in Kigali, Rwanda, on March 21. South Africa
signed the agreement during the 31st ordinary session of the assembly of the AU,
in Mauritania, on July 1.
Agreement
Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade
Siboniso Nkambule said they were glad that South Africa had welcomed the
decision to ratify the agreement.
He said this effectively meant the country could tap into the agreement sooner
should more countries choose to follow suit.
Asked whether the country was ready to maximise on the benefits that come with
the agreement, he said: “It is still a work in progress but we are getting
there.”
Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies welcomed Parliament’s ratification
of the agreement as reported by Engineering News yesterday.
Engineering News reported that South Africa is expected to deposit its
instrument of ratification during the thirty-second ordinary session of the
assembly of the AU in February 2019. The AfCFTA will enter into force once 22
member States have deposited their instruments of ratification.
The AfCFTA includes 55 African countries and, once entered into force, will
constitute the largest free trade area globally.
As a flagship project of the AU’s ‘Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want’, the
AfCFTA aims to build an integrated market in Africa that will see a market of
more than one-billion people, with a combined gross domestic product of about
US$3.3-trillion (E46.2 trillion).
Engineering News reported that the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
estimates the AfCFTA will increase intra-African trade from the current 10 per
cent to 16 per cent to about 52 per cent by 2022.