When the heads of states and governments of COMESA, EAC and SADC met in Kampala on October 22, 2008, they conveyed in their communiqué a sense of urgency and approved the expeditious establishment of a single Free Trade Area (FTA) covering 26 out of the 54 countries that make up the African continent.

The three regional economic groupings (RECs) also directed that a study be prepared on a legal and institutional framework to underpin the FTA with the ultimate goal of establishing a single customs union.

Seven years later, on June 10, 2015, the heads of state and government of the COMESA, EAC and SADC gathered at the luxury Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt and launched the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA).

The Tripartite FTA represents an integrated market of 26 countries with a combined population of 632 million people, which is 57 per cent of Africa’s population; and with a total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $1.3 trillion (2014), and contributes 58 per cent of Africa’s GDP.

Heralded as a major milestone in line with the vision of having an FTA, the tripartite agreement is expected to bolster intra-regional trade by creating a wider market, increased investment flows, enhanced competitiveness and encouraging regional infrastructure development as well as pioneering the integration of the African continent.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report on Economic Development in Africa (2013) establishes that intra-African trade has enormous potential to create employment, catalyse investment and foster growth in Africa.

Whereas this could be true, trade policy analysts contend that the level of preparation among the TFTA states is still questionable and leaves a lot to be desired.

Speaking at a workshop on Addressing the development challenges of Uganda in the context of the EPAs, COMESA, EAC-SADC Tripartite and other bilateral trade agreements, organized by SEATINI Uganda recently, stakeholders cast doubt on the implementation of the agreement, saying Uganda is not yet prepared for regional integration.

“I am a strong believer of regional integration. However, the problem with regional integration has been the issue of supply-side constraint of meeting the market. We are exporters of mainly primary commodities, typical of economies like Uganda. We need a strong financial infrastructure as a key to this,” said Nathan Irumba, the executive director of SEATINI.

“When you look at the world, everybody agrees that trade is critical for development. But trade in itself should not be seen as a panacea. Trade now lies at the heart of development.”

Irumba said Uganda needed to improve on agricultural production and address the constraints of moving agricultural products to the market. “However, integration has got both an advantage and disadvantage side to it. You can only take advantage of it when you are prepared. It is how prepared the economy is to take advantage of it,” he said.

Source: All Africa

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.