ISDS Case Map
EAC
East African Community (EAC) states should not sign the interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) until pending issues are resolved, a trade analyst has said.
Relative advancement of Kenya, South Africa and Egypt’s economies has emerged as one of the leading threats to the merger of three African trading blocs, trade experts said, citing potential disputes that lie in joining economies that are at different levels of development in a seamless market.
Three African trade blocs that have agreed to form a free trade area covering more than half a billion people created a long overdue roadmap on Monday.
In a move to compensate revenue losses accrued by Rwanda as a result of having a common external tariff after the adoption of the EAC customs union protocol, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) will disburse €10.3 million (Frw 8.8 billion) through budget support for the fiscal year 2009/10.
Services industry practitioners and representatives from the East African region met to discuss and seek ways of building services coalitions to confront challenges in the sector and help unlock the region’s economic potential.
Players in the services industry from across the East Africa Community region are working on a raft of reforms that could unlock potential ahead of the signing of economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with the European Commission.
Burundi has received euro 4.4 million (US$6.4 million) grant from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) under the adjustment facility.
The failure by the European Union on the one hand and African, Caribbean and Pacific nations on the other to conclude their Economic Partnership Agreements by July 31 this year, the agreed deadline, does not augur well for trade between the two sides.
The East African Community is trading “free” with the European Union — without a binding agreement — following the expiry of an interim arrangement and the failure by teams negotiating from both parties to settle on a comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
Three leading regional trading blocs in Africa -- EAC, COMESA and SADC -- have simplified the rules of origin to be applied by all member states in a move aimed at boosting intra-continental trade.
