ISDS Case Map
SADC
Southern Africa Development Cooperation
EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton visited several nations in Southern Africa last week, where she held talks with key governmental leaders. Although the general purpose of the trip was to promote bilateral and regional trade relations, Ashton also hoped to make progress on a potential Economic Partnership Agreement, or EPA, between members of the South African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union.
The EU Trade Commissioner, Catherine Ashton, was scheduled to arrive in Botswana on Wednesday for talks with senior SADC officials.
Southern Africa is at a crossroads. While the rest of the world is heaving and buckling under the weight of the financial crisis, the subcontinent is battling to overcome centuries of colonial and other boundaries through adopting agreements about a free trade area.
Regional stakeholders in the energy industry meeting in Tanzania have called for cooperation, integration and pooling of resources in the energy sector as the only way of dealing with energy shortages in southern Africa.
The size of the domestic market has long been a thorn in the flesh for local businesses.
Agricultural and development economies in Sub-Saharan Africa are the flavour of the month. The global credit crisis, wide-scale economic meltdown and financial recession have sparked a wave of interest about the implications for Africa. It is crucial that this discussion happens.
Seven Sadc member countries met in Lilongwe on Tuesday to strategise on creating a regional platform for informal cross border traders who would work to ensure that trade integration in southern Africa benefits poor people at regional level.
Twenty six African countries, a single market and open borders that allow persons to move across freely and conduct business. That was the vision of the Tripartite Summit that took place in Kampala last week. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania called it “a landmark summit for a landmark decision” while President Yoweri Museveni said it was “historic”.
The trade liberalisation agenda in southern Africa and Africa as a whole needed to be strengthened, Tshediso Matona, the director-general of the trade and industry department, said on 30 October.
The proposed merger of the EAC, SADC and COMESA will help reduce the cost of doing business for companies within the 26 countries and boost foreign direct investment (FDI) to levels never seen before.
