| by Munetsi Madakufamba 
South African Minister of Trade and Industry: Alec Erwin
The recently signed free trade agreement (FTA) between South Africa and the
European Union (EU) has sparked mixed feelings among SADC members as some fear it may lead to lower
intra-regional trade while others say it will encourage competition.
One of the urgent matters awaiting the SA parliament after
the election is the ratification of the 800-page agreement, negotiations for which took
more than two years. If the agreement successfully passes through parliament, it will be
implemented first of January 2000. However, there are fears among South Africa’s
neighbours, particularly those in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), that duty
free imports from the EU will lead to loss of revenue. SACU members – Botswana,
Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland – share tariff-based revenue. This
revenue contributes upto 50 percent of annual budgets of some of the countries.
As a precautionary measure, the EU has already concluded a US$1.3 million rescue
package for Swaziland, one of the countries that is expected to be negatively affected by
the FTA. The EU says it is working out a similar arrangement for Botswana, Lesotho and
Namibia. |
While the impact on
tariff-based revenue is seen as direct, and can easily be compensated for, there are other
more indirect, and possibly much more far reaching, effects. This has to do with
cheaper, and sometimes heavily subsidised, EU products flooding SADC countries. For
instance, EU beef is heavily subsidised and thus pose a potential threat to beef farmers
in the region, particularly Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Intra-SADC trade currently ranges between 10-20 percent and is likely to be reduced
with the advent of cheaper EU products through South Africa. The FTA is also seen by many
as a further complication to negotiations on the SADC Trade Protocol. “The SA-EU
agreement has grave implications for the region. The agreement was signed at a time we are
calling for more trade within SADC,” says Nathan Shamuyarira, Zimbabwe’s
Industry and Commerce Minister.
The SADC Trade Protocol seeks to create a free trade area in the SADC region within a
period of eight years.
It was signed in 1996 and has so far been ratified by five countries – Botswana,
Mauritius, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Negotiations on tariff reduction schedules are still continuing and ratification is
expected to move faster once these are completed. |
However, some analysts say
the SA-EU FTA should be seen as complementary to the SADC Trade protocol since South
Africa, one of the 14-member group, has already started lifting its tariffs. “It
(South Africa) has already opened up its market to the EU which is a bigger economy and
more complex.
It should now find it relatively easy to do the same at the regional level… One
can argue that the (SADC) trade protocol is a less complex one compared with the SA-EU FTA
that has just been concluded.
What SADC countries now need to do is to spare time to work on the modalities (of the
trade protocol) before implementation can begin,” says one regional economist.
Optimists of the SA-EU FTA say cheaper EU products will encourage local manufacturers
to find more efficient ways of production. Infact, for local companies to compete
favourably with their European counterparts, they will have to match both their quality
and price.
The ultimate beneficiary would be the SADC consumer.
Whole new era of South African politics
as ANC wins big
High-tech media operation covers SA polls
SADC forum promotes electoral
transparency, accountability
Entrenching a democratic culture
President Muluzi wins second term |
| Democracy in southern
Africa has more to gain from sharing regional experiences than when countries act in
isolation. The diverse electoral processes and systems in SADC provide a perfect
laboratory for lessons for its members. A recent conference
co-organised in Botswana by SADC and the Electoral Institute
of South Africa (EISA) underscored the need to share experiences in electoral
processes noting that this is a crucial step in strengthening and consolidating democracy
in the region.
The conference, co-sponspored by European Union (EU) and the
European Commission (EC) and attended by representatives from various sections of the
society in the 14 SADC member states and the EU, could not have come at a better time. The
SADC region is going through a series of elections.
Five countries are expected to have gone through elections by the
end of the year. Malawi and South Africa have already held theirs while Botswana,
Mozambique and Namibia are expected to go to polls before the end of the year.
The need to entrench a culture of democracy through electoral systems was affirmed at the
conference.
SADC Executive Secretary said that while democractic practices are
now visible in the region, more still needs to be done to deepen the culture.
“We are quick to acknowledge that although we have democracy
in our region, we still need to strengthen it... Building a democratic system is a slow
and often painful and expensive process, which requires the will and commitment of all
sectors of the society,” he said. |
The conference noted that
the process of strengthening and consolidating democracy requires that issues ranging from
voter education, election observation, political systems and the involvement of key
stakeholders such as the media, are given appropriate space. Efforts
to strengthen democracy at regional level have seen the creation of such institutions as
the SADC Electoral Commissions Forum and the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
The Electoral Commissions Forum aims to nurture cooperation among
its members — the national commissions – in order to promote free and fair
elections.
The Parliamentary Forum, which brings together national
parliaments in the region, is an attempt to bring SADC and its activities to the people.
In his opening address, Botswana President Festus Mogae said:
“By casting the vote, the general populace is thus determining its own destiny and
participating in the process of making a choice on how their development should be steered
to their benefit.” |
While conceding that
elections per se are not an end but a means to democracy, the participants agreed that the
electoral process is an important tool in making democracies stable and legitimate. “Whenever the necessary prerequisites are met, elections will be the
pillar of any democratic process.
In spite of all its indisputable deficiencies, democracy based on
free and fair elections has proven to be the best form of governance,” said
Ambassador Harald Ganns, Special Envoy of the EU-Presidency.
For an election to be free, fair and peaceful, noted the conference, an appropriate
environment for key stakeholders such as election observers, the media and political
parties, needs to be created.
In particular, the media is seen as vital in disseminating
electoral information including cross border experiences.
The conference was held as part of the Berlin Initiative, a
framework for furthering development dialogue between SADC and the EU.
Mixed reactions to SA-EU trade
Laying an institutional foundation for the
trade protocol
The SADC trade protocol & gender:
What are the connections?
Landmines hinder development in southern
Africa |