Botswana
Botswana signed a tripartite free trade area agreement which marked a milestone in the trade agenda of the African Union.
The six African countries threatened with losing access to the European single market have finally agreed to sign the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). But the continent’s regional integration may suffer as a result. EurActiv France reports.
The recent vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union might lead to the renegotiation of the recently signed Economic Partnership Agreement, creating uncertainty for Botswana
The EU plans to raise the pressure on six African countries to implement controversial free trade agreements by putting an end to their preferential access to the EU market.
Angola will join the Free Trade Zone of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in 2017, if the country takes the necessary steps
Botswana Minister of Trade and Industry Vincent Seretse has met with European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Mamstrom in Gaborone to discuss the finalisation of Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations between the EU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Late last year, the African cyberspace was buzzing with rumours that the region’s oldest trade agreement, the Southern African Customs Union or SACU was about to be finally killed off by South Africa. From Windhoek to Cape Town to Mbabane, trade policy wonks were debating what the most recent moves from Pretoria regarding SACU really meant.
Botswana has escaped the imposition of an amendment which would have charged higher duties on the country’s exports to the European Union after 2014 thereby dealing a deathblow to local sectors such as agriculture, minerals and manufacturing.
Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Tapiwa Mashakada has decried the lack of positive outcomes from the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements Zimbabwe has signed with a number of countries.
The global economic crisis, along with other evolving structural factors within SACU, could cut a P5-billion permanent hole in revenues that Botswana receives from the customs union, the IMF estimates.
The song of Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional integration is sung so loudly that even the deaf can hear it. But my recent experience in Windhoek, Namibia tends to prove that the reality on the ground does not match the rhetoric.
A market access regulation giving SADC states, including Botswana, duty and quota-free access to the European Union is expected to elapse soon, potentially squeezing the affected states out of the world’s biggest market for beef, minerals, textiles and other products.
Ahead of the August round of negotiations between the SADC EPA group and the EU, the Acting President of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Parliamentary Assembly says the region should be afforded more time to reach a final decision on a comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry is in the process of establishing a national body under the 2002 Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Agreement.
Botswana has emerged as the dealmaker in the contentious Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations aimed at finding middle ground between the European Union on one side and South Africa, Namibia and Angola on the other.
The Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) as well as the Botswana Exporters and Manufacturers Association (BEMA), are positioning themselves to tap into the P185 million capacity building facility made available through the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union.
Government deserves commendation on the various programmes it has embarked on to diversify the economy away from mining especially diamonds. Such strategies include inter alia 1) the setting up of BEDIA to attract foreign direct investments (FDIs) thus facilitating the growth of the manufacturing sector. 2) The IFSC model which I am highly convinced was a well thought out model considering the geographical situation of this country and of course its population.
In the latest twist of events, South Africa is reported to have ‘changed tunes’ and has decided to let Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (BLS) ratify their interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU).
The European Union signed an interim trade deal on Thursday with the Southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland.
Botswana is cautiously optimistic about the on going Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that are being negotiated between the European Union and the Southern African Development Community, despite some snags.
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