Harare, (New Ziana) -Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ministers of Trade have been urged to urgently renew regional strategies amid growing global uncertainty taking centre stage.
SADC executive secretary Elias Magosi said this on Thursday while officially opening the 34th Committee of Ministers of Trade and the 24th Ministerial Taskforce on Regional Integration meeting at the new Parliament Building in Mt Hampden.
He said the meeting comes at a time of significant turbulence in global trade, with new protectionist measures, diminishing development funding, and the erosion of long-standing trade arrangements, including the uncertainty surrounding the United States Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), raising alarm across the region.
Magosi said the current geopolitical shifts are perhaps the most volatile that have been witnessed in the past 80 years, noting that a blanket 10 percent tariff that the United States imposed on all imports has effectively nullified AGOA’s benefits for many Southern African nations.
“This is a wake-up call for our region. We must no longer rely on the hope of external goodwill. We must shape and determine our trade destiny, on our terms, and for our benefit,” he said.
AGOA) is a US trade preference program that provides duty-free access to the US market for most exports from eligible sub-Saharan African countries.
It’s a non-reciprocal trade arrangement, meaning it doesn’t require reciprocal trade benefits from the African countries. AGOA aims to promote economic growth in Africa by encouraging market-oriented reforms, the rule of law, and political pluralism.
Of the 49 potential beneficiaries in the region, 35 countries currently take part while 14 are suspended, including Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Somalia and Sudan have not requested AGOA designation, while Equatorial Guinea and Seychelles graduated out of the program.
Magosi said despite ambitious integration plans, SADC’s internal trade statistics reveal a sobering reality with intra-SADC merchandise trade remaining at a mere 18 percent, while services trade lags at just 2.5 percent, figures that underscore the need for urgent reform and deeper regional cooperation.
”The very foundation and purpose of SADC is being undermined when we continue to trade more with the rest of the world than among ourselves,” he added.
He however highlighted notable recent progress, particularly Angola’s submission of its revised tariff offer, marking a significant step toward full participation in the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA). With Angola being the region’s second-largest economy, this development is expected to dramatically expand market access and economic opportunities, said Magosi.
Magosi said other key highlights included the finalisation of several trade instruments under the SADC Protocol on Trade, such as amendments to rules of origin, trade facilitation measures, and frameworks for addressing non-tariff barriers and regional competition policy.
Ministers were also presented with a 15-year Strategy and 5 year Action Plan on Trade in Services, as well as guidelines to support professional services and labour mobility. ”These instruments are critical to enhancing implementation, ensuring market access, and increasing credibility in line with our broader trade objectives,” said Magosi.
He lauded the SADC secretariat for its groundwork in analysing the region’s top ten imports and exports, a study expected to guide strategic decisions in favour of increasing intra-regional trade.
Policy recommendations derived from this research are slated for presentation at the next Ministers’ meeting, whose date is yet to be made public. Magosi also reiterated the full commitment of the secretariat to implementing all decisions taken by the Committee and driving forward the region’s integration agenda in line with the SADC Vision 2050 and the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020–2030.
”There has never been a more critical time to reaffirm our unity, deepen our cooperation, and reimagine our trade landscape. The SADC we want is within reach, one that is competitive, integrated, and prosperous,” he said.
New Ziana
