ISDS Case Map
SADC
Southern Africa Development Cooperation
The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) covering 26 countries will be launched in May, it has been agreed.
A senior official of African Union (AU) said Tuesday the long-awaited tripartite free trade area between three regional blocs is expected to be launched in May in Cairo, Egypt.
While bilateral free trade agreements, as a means to further the market-opening and rule-making agenda, have been globally picking up steam, there have also been parallel efforts to usher in a plethora of regional trade agreements and economic unions.
The Egyptian government expects to begin negotiations for free trade agreements with the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as with African economic blocs such as COMESA, SADEC and EALA, and to sign a deal with MERCOSUR in Latin America.
The 2012 SADC model BIT proposes new thinking and a sharp deviation from today's policies, tralac says.
As published by tralac
Most of the clauses in the agreement -- to be signed this month in Cairo -- have been finalised, apart from the preamble and the rules of origin.
If one takes a look at the real big winners in this project, it will soon be realized that multinational corporations mostly from Europe, North America and to some extent Asia which have set up base in Cairo, Johannesburg and Nairobi will be real winners.
The Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will be launched in mid-December, 2014.
