The agreement by 44 African states on a African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) reached in Kigali on Wednesday is good news for everyone but particularly for SA, which has significantly grown its manufactured exports to the continent but has the potential to do much more. When fully implemented, the signatories to the agreement will reduce tariffs on 90% of their tariff book, leaving 10% of products protected from continental competition. To reach its full extent will require many hours, stretching into years, of negotiation. Some trade economists think it will take as long as a decade. If the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Free Trade Agreement, first signed in 1996 and fully implemented by 2012, is anything to go by, this is not inaccurate. The scope for improvement of intraregional trade links is huge. Only 20% of Africa’s exports are sent to countries elsewhere on the continent. African countries tend to have stronger trade with their former colonial powe...
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