EAST African Community’s (EAC) private sector is this week expected to get updates on the negotiations for establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The private sector will also give its views on AfCFTA’s viability in the regional sensitisation workshop this Thursday.

East African Business Council (EABC) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) organised one-day workshop aims at assisting to unlock the potential of the private sector during the implementation of AfCFTA.

According to an EABC issued statement, the workshop will also engage the private sector on what they need to do to realise positive benefits from the AfCFTA.

“It’s important that the EAC private sector takes the position on how they want to participate in AfCFTA and how they intend it to be conducted,” the statement read.

Launched in Kigali, Rwanda on March 18 2018, the initiative is expected to benefit the private sector in boosting speed and reducing the cost of customs procedures and port handling through implementation of trade facilitation measures, increasing cross border trade and investment thus enhancing market access for goods and services produced in Africa, and increasing competitiveness of the African industrial products through harnessing the economies of scale of a continental- wide market.

It also envisages promoting innovation and enterprise through protection of intellectual property rights of the African private sector, establishing an Africa free trade area by building on regional blocs like the EAC where trading nations already work together.

The EAC declaration also aligns with the World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, which became effective in February 2017 .

Intra-EAC trade, while low compared to regions outside Africa, is the highest among regional economic communities in Africa at 19.3 per cent of exports.

A UNECA report released last year says that rising trading tensions between some EAC member states had resulted in declines in intra-regional trade as the bloc now trades at just half of its potential.

The report bases its findings on recent events, including Tanzania’s decision to ban sugar imports from Uganda and Burundi’s ban on Rwandan exports in 2016.

Source: Daily News

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.