Graft may derail Africa trade deal

High foreign debt, endemic corruption, incapacity and mismanagement are some of the ills experts fear could sink the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (ACFTA) under which the continent started trading this month.

According to the World Bank, ACFTA, which has so far garnered 54 African Union (AU) member signatories and seeks to create a single market for goods and services, it is a major opportunity for African countries to bring 30 million people out of extreme poverty and to raise the incomes of 68 million.

Once fully operational, the free trade agreement has the potential to boost intra-Africa trade by more than 52% by next year, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

The agreement will strive for a continental customs union, abolish tariffs on 90% of goods; assist in the movement of capital and people between countries and reduce the time for goods to go through customs.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the ACFTA would also promote industrialisation, competitiveness, job creation and regional value chains to facilitate Africa’s integration into the global economy.

Alastair Tempest, chief executive of Ecommerce Forum Africa, said SA stood to benefit because of its advanced industry and infrastructure.

However, he said corruption remained the biggest enemy of Africa’s development and that it would be deadly to the
deal if it was not eliminated.

“If [corruption] continues the way it is at the moment, then there will be serious problems,” he said.

He said a truck from Johannesburg travelling to Malawi had to go through the borders of several countries where officials were susceptible to bribes.

But graft could be eliminated by introducing an electronic preclearance system.

“The European Union has the electronic preclearance system and trucks can go through to Spain without having to stop anywhere,” he said.

Sipho Mantula, researcher at the University of SA’s Institute for Dispute Resolution in Africa, also cited corruption and how the agreement would benefit ordinary people as concerns.

“Big business tends to set up industries and exploit the local populace.”

– siphom@citizen.co.za

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