SANF 25 no 16 by Clarkson Mambo
Southern Africa is charting a bold path toward deeper economic integration as countries across the region commit to revitalising intra-regional trade.
Faced with persistently low trade volumes, trade ministers from the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) acknowledge that fragmented markets and weak cross-border commerce are undermining the region’s shared prosperity agenda.
At the 34th Committee of SADC Ministers of Trade (CMT) in Harare, Zimbabwe on 5 June, officials reviewed mechanisms to overcome trade barriers and strengthen economic resilience, recognising that SADC member states continue to trade more with external markets than within the region.
Intra-regional merchandise trade remains at just 18 percent while services trade stands at a mere 2.5 percent, according to statistics released by the SADC Secretariat during the meeting.
SADC has long prioritised regional trade expansion, launching the SADC Free Trade Area in 2008, which now includes 14 of the 16 member states and facilitates duty-free trade on at least 85 percent of goods.
The Protocol on Trade in Services, which came into force in January 2022, further aims to increase regional trade in services by eliminating restrictive regulations. Services account for more than 50 percent of the combined gross domestic product of SADC member states.
CMT Chairperson Professor Amon Murwira, who is also Zimbabwe’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, underscored the need for self-reliance through expanded intra-regional trade, warning that failure to integrate could leave member states economically vulnerable.
“We either swim or sink, but we choose to swim together,” he declared.
The meeting also emphasised regional preparedness for participation in larger continental trade frameworks, including the Africa Continental Free Trade Area and the Tripartite Free Trade Area ¬– a partnership of SADC, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the East African Community which was launched last year.
The urgency for stronger regional cooperation is heightened by global economic shifts, including the United States’ increasing emphasis on bilateral trade measures, which threaten multilateral agreements under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
SADC’s Executive Secretary, Elias Magosi, urged member states to rethink trade partnerships amid these uncertainties.
“These recent geopolitical developments should serve as a powerful wake-up call for our region – a call to unite, cooperate and integrate more.”
“The increasing emphasis on reciprocal trade measures that the world is witnessing calls into question the fundamental basis of multilateral and plurilateral trade agreements, whereby all parties to trade agreements are treated equally under the most-favoured nation principle,” the ministers said in a communique at the end of their meeting.
The most-favoured nation principle, which ensures equal treatment for all parties in trade agreements, is being eroded as major economies impose retaliatory tariffs and trade restrictions.
The WTO deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.
The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to industrialisation, calling for enhanced value addition and beneficiation of critical raw materials.
To identify trade bottlenecks, the SADC Secretariat is conducting a study to understand why member states prefer to trade with countries outside the region than internally, with findings expected to inform policy adjustments and regional trade facilitation strategies.
Made up of ministers of trade, the CMT seeks to advance SADC’s economic vision and is responsible for overseeing the trade activities in the region in line with the aspirations of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (2020-2030) and SADC Vision 2050, as well as providing policy advice to the Council of Ministers.
The Council of Ministers oversees the functioning and development of SADC and ensures that policies are properly implemented. It consists of ministers from each member state, usually from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economic Planning, or Finance.
The CMT meeting was preceded by a meeting of senior officials. sardc.net