Johannesburg, South Africa – Southern African countries have been urged to strengthen quality infrastructure and harmonise standards to reduce technical trade barriers and unlock greater benefits from regional and continental markets, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Speaking at the 41st Southern African Development Community (SADC) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Cooperation Structures Meetings in Johannesburg from 23rd to 27th March 2026, South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ms Alexandra Ambrahams, said robust quality infrastructure – covering standardisation, metrology, accreditation and conformity assessment – was essential if SADC products were to compete in global markets and support industrialisation.
The meetings, convened by the Southern African Development Community Secretariat (SADC), brought together representatives from SADC member states, trade institutions, technical regulators, legal and scientific metrology bodies, standardisation and accreditation agencies, the private sector and international cooperating partners. The forum is used to monitor the implementation of Standardisation, Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Metrology (SQAM) activities and ensure alignment with regional and international objectives.
Ms Ambrahams said the AfCFTA offered SADC enterprises unprecedented opportunities to expand regional value chains and access a larger, unified African market. However, she stressed that these benefits depended on the region’s ability to reduce technical trade barriers, improve testing and certification capacity and ensure goods met both continental and global quality requirements.
Mr Dhunraj Kassee, Director of Industrial Development and Trade at the SADC Secretariat, said misalignment between national, regional and international policies, limited awareness among decision-makers, weak quality infrastructure and shortage of skilled personnel were among the key factors that continued to create technical barriers to trade in the region.
On the sidelines of the meetings, winners of the 2025/26 SADC Quality Award companies and individuals judged to have excelled in quality performance – were presented with trophies and certificates.
Ms Ambrahams added that advancing industrialisation, agricultural transformation and the energy transition in SADC would rely increasingly on standards, accreditation, testing and inspection. She said micro, small and medium enterprises needed stronger quality systems to scale up and participate in regional and global value chains.
She also highlighted the importance of the circular economy, green technologies and digitalisation, urging member states to invest in modern laboratories, digital traceability systems and skilled experts who can shape global standards rather than simply adopt them.
The meeting called for accelerated work on quality infrastructure, greater public–private cooperation and faster finalisation of outstanding AfCFTA elements, including tariff schedules, rules of origin and key protocols, to ensure the regional trade framework delivered real benefits on the ground. – New Ziana
