ISDS Case Map
Africa
The EPAs are not fundamentally concerned about African development but are designed to further the geo-economic aims of the ‘Global Europe' strategy being pushed from Brussels in the interest of European corporations and capital. Declaration from Africa Trade Network.
With the failure of the Doha development round trade talks fresh in everyone's minds, the focus now shifts to the equally controversial Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA's).
The EPA will be disastrous for Africa. Its acceptance would amount to locking the continent into some kind of economic vacuum where its manouevring space would be drastically limited because of the exclusivity of such a deal, especially since the evidence shows that no country in the world has taken off with such bogus and demeaning arrangements.
Trade ministers from Africa and Latin America met last week in Marrakesh to discuss the state of South-South trade. Despite recent advancements, trade between developing countries remains low.
To thwart a deepening food crisis on the continent, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation is proposing the creation of a Free Trade Area (FTA) for Africa that will facilitate a seamless flow of strategic commodities across national borders while maintaining high profit margins.
Chinese investment in African countries comes with few strings attached -- which is exactly what concerns civil society organisations.
France, the forthcoming holder of the European Union's rotating presidency, has asked that the bloc display greater flexibility in talks aimed at reaching free trade accords with Africa.
As a result of the free trade agreements with the European Union, called economic partnership agreements, regional integration in Southern Africa is in tatters. The question arises: what kind of integration would engender broad-based development?
The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) agenda of the European Commission (EC) clearly illustrates the masquerade of its disdainful approach towards Africa in an accelerated disregard for the EU's coherence policy.
