ISDS Case Map
Namibia
It should come as no surprise that Namibian Trade and Industry Minister Hage Geingob and European Union Ambassador Elizabeth Pape almost came to verbal blows this week.
It will be critical in the coming months to mobilise resistance to the implementation of the Interim EPA in its current format and thereby strengthen the Namibian Government's hand not to sign a final EPA with the EU. Namibia should also link up with African and international campaigns against EPAs, which have emerged in the past few years. The battle is not lost but there is little time left to prevent EPAs from becoming a new and powerful tool to promote EU interests at the expense of Africa's development needs. A new publication from the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRI).
Namibia is ready to put behind the unpleasant treatment it received from European Union negotiators during last year's marathon negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which resulted in the country's refusal to sign until its protests were heard.
A top businessman and some economists in Namibia are optimistic that the proposed Southern African Development Community (SADC) Customs Union will break down trade barriers in the region and create competition that will benefit the ordinary consumer.
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.
EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson spoke of a "significant development" at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ministerial meeting held in Botswana yesterday.
Government's refusal to sign the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) has thrown a challenge to the private sector, which had put too much trust on the Cotonou Agreement by regarding European markets as the only export destination.
Namibia and South Africa were the only two southern African countries that did not sign Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) for a new trade deal with the European Union on Friday.
You are right that this should not be a poker game. Maybe it's time for reflection so you could realize who is actually playing poker with the livelihoods you are trying to help, writes Wallie Roux.
The fate of the Meatco researcher, who got suspended for expressing a sceptical opinion on the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations in May, is yet to be decided.
