{"id":1683,"date":"2021-01-01T20:19:53","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T20:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/south-africa\/?p=1683"},"modified":"2021-01-01T19:03:09","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T19:03:09","slug":"african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain","title":{"rendered":"African free trade bloc opens for business, but challenges remain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>* Trade under AfCFTA bloc begins Jan. 1<\/p>\n

* Launch delayed six months due to pandemic<\/p>\n

* Implementation of free trade deal to take years<\/p>\n

By Joe Bavier<\/p>\n

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 1 (Reuters) – African countries began
\nofficially trading under a new continent-wide free trade area on
\nFriday, after months of delays caused by the global coronavirus
\npandemic.<\/p>\n

But experts view the New Year’s Day launch as largely
\nsymbolic with full implementation of the deal expected to take
\nyears.<\/p>\n

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aims to
\nbring together 1.3 billion people in a $3.4 trillion economic
\nbloc that will be the largest free trade area since the
\nestablishment of the World Trade Organization.<\/p>\n

Backers say it will boost trade among African neighbours
\nwhile allowing the continent to develop its own value chains.
\nThe World Bank estimates it could lift tens of millions out of
\npoverty by 2035.<\/p>\n

But obstacles – ranging from ubiquitous red tape and poor
\ninfrastructure to the entrenched protectionism of some of its
\nmembers – must be overcome if the bloc is to reach its full
\npotential.<\/p>\n

Trade under the AfCFTA was meant to be launched on July 1
\nbut was pushed back after COVID-19 made in-person negotiations
\nimpossible.<\/p>\n

However, the pandemic also gave the process added impetus,
\nsaid Silver Ojakol, chief of staff at the AfCFTA’s secretariat.<\/p>\n

“We saw the impact on our economies of the disruption of
\nimports due to the pandemic,” he said. “So there’s actually been
\nan increase in political will to boost intra-African
\nintegration.”<\/p>\n

Every African country except Eritrea has signed on to the
\nAfCFTA framework agreement, and 34 have ratified it. But
\nobservers such as W. Gyude Moore – a former Liberian minister
\nwho is now a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development
\n– say the real work begins now.<\/p>\n

“I would be surprised if they can have everything set up
\nwithin 24 months,” he told Reuters. “For long-term success, I
\nthink we’ll need to look at how long it took Europe. This is a
\nmulti-decade process.”<\/p>\n

‘WE MUST START SOMEWHERE’<\/p>\n

Historic challenges including Africa’s poor road and rail
\nlinks, political unrest, excessive border bureaucracy and petty
\ncorruption will not disappear overnight.<\/p>\n

And an annex to the deal outlining the rules of origin – an
\nessential step for determining which products can be subject to
\ntariffs and duties – has not been completed yet.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 41 of the zone’s 54 member states have submitted
\ntariff reduction schedules.<\/p>\n

Members must phase out 90% of tariff lines – over five years
\nfor more advanced economies or 10 years for less developed
\nnations. Another 7% considered sensitive will get more time,
\nwhile 3% will be allowed to be placed on an exclusion list.<\/p>\n

Finalising those schedules and communicating them to
\nbusinesses must be done quickly, said Ziad Hamoui of Borderless
\nAlliance, a group that campaigns for easier cross-border trade.<\/p>\n

But efforts to implement the deal will also likely face
\nresistance from countries’ domestic interest groups. Fears of
\nlosing out to more competitive neighbours initially made some
\ncountries, including West African giant Nigeria, sceptical of
\nthe pan-African project.<\/p>\n

Still, proponents of the zone are confident that initial
\nsteps towards its implementation will already allow member
\nstates to double intra-African trade by 2025.<\/p>\n

“Economic integration is not an event. It’s a process,”
\nsaid the AfCFTA secretariat’s Ojakol. “We must start somewhere.”
\n(Editing by Alex Richardson)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. * Trade under AfCFTA bloc begins Jan. 1 * Launch delayed six months due to pandemic * Implementation of free trade deal to take years By Joe Bavier JOHANNESBURG, Jan 1 (Reuters) – African countries began officially trading under a new continent-wide free trade area on Friday, after months of delays caused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-1683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nAfrican free trade bloc opens for business, but challenges remain - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"* Trade under AfCFTA bloc begins Jan. 1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"African free trade bloc opens for business, but challenges remain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"* Trade under AfCFTA bloc begins Jan. 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-01T20:19:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/01\/img-5fef71d072e29.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"African free trade bloc opens for business, but challenges remain\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-01T20:19:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain\"},\"wordCount\":565,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/01\/img-5fef71d072e29.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/african-free-trade-bloc-opens-for-business-but-challenges-remain\",\"name\":\"African free trade bloc opens for business, but challenges remain - 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