12 Oct 2016

Southern African countries; Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland and EU have started a new chapter in their bilateral relations with the entry into effect of their Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

A press release from Delegation of the European Union to Botswana and SADC says as of October 10, 2016, the agreement will apply to trade between EU and five countries, adding that Mozambique is in the process of ratifying the agreement and will join in as soon as the ratification procedure is completed.

European Commissioner for Trade, Dr Cecilia Malmström, as per the release says: "When I visited Botswana in June for the signing ceremony, I saw first-hand how important it is to build a stable trade partnership between Europe and Africa. Today we’re taking a crucial step towards making that a reality.

“The agreement that we’re putting in place will support sustainable economic growth and regional integration in Southern Africa and is designed to help lift people out of poverty in the years to come.  Africa is the emerging continent and the Economic Partnership Agreements have been designed to maximise this dynamism,” she adds.

The EPA, the release says takes into account the different levels of development of the partners. It gives Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Swaziland duty-free, quota-free access to the European market.

“South Africa will also benefit from enhanced market access, going beyond its existing bilateral arrangement with the EU,” it says.

It further says the Southern African markets will open only partially to EU exports, gradually over time, providing their industries with the intermediary goods they need to support growth.

“It also provides for a number of protective measures in these countries, for instance for nascent, fragile industries or for food security reasons,” it adds.
Furthermore, the agreement increases the flexibility of Southern African producers to put together products with components from various other countries, without the risk of losing their free access to the EU market.

It says the SADC EPA Group consists of six out of 15 members of SADC (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa).  Angola has observer status and may join the agreement in the future.

The EU is the largest trading partner of the SADC EPA group.  In 2015, EU imported goods worth almost €32 billion from the region, mostly minerals and metals.  European Union exported goods of nearly the same value, consisting mostly of engineering, automotive and chemical products.  Total trade between EU and SADC EPA Group (including Angola) amounts to €63 billion. ENDS