US President Donald Trump’s threat of high tariffs on SA has inadvertently spurred the department of trade, industry and competition (DTIC) into action, encouraging the AU to fast track intracontinental trade, including a seamless regulatory environment and infrastructure build programme.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is an ambitious economic initiative of the AU aimed at addressing Africa’s low level of participation in the global economy and world trade, which stands at only 3%, despite the continent containing 17% of the world population.
It is anchored on the development integration approach, which places emphasis on balancing market integration, infrastructure development and industrial development to boost intra-Africa trade and support the continental development imperatives of sustainable economic growth.
The AfCFTA aims to build an integrated African import and export market of over 1.2 billion people.
The AU has now adopted the Protocols on Competition Policy, Investment and Intellectual Property Rights, with a built-in agenda of negotiations on the annexes and outstanding provisions.
“The AfCFTA Investment Protocol seeks to foster coherence and consistency with respect to the rules and principles that govern the promotion and facilitation of investment on the African continent; and to attract great investment flows to the continent and facilitate intra-African cross-border investment,” a memo from in the DTIC states which Business Day has seen.
The protocol focuses on preventing anticompetitive practices, providing a framework for addressing market concentration, abuse of power and other competition-related issues.
SA’s cabinet is now expected to ratify the protocol within months.
The protocol also envisages eight regulations to facilitate the full implementation of AfCFTA to be “urgently” adopted by the AU assembly.
Technical negotiations of these draft regulations are under way and are expected to be finalised in 2025/2026.
SA also wants AfCFTA to conclude negotiations between signatories on customs and tariff policy by the end of 2025.
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