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SADC: Economists raise alarm over free trade area
19-Aug-2008 SABC News
Economists have warned of economic pain and even job losses in the short-term because of the historic Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in Johannesburg yesterday.
Southern Africa: Angola to join free trade in two years
15-Aug-2008 AllAfrica.com
Angola will join the Free Trade Area (FTA) of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in two to three years time.
Great expectations from expanded customs union
6-Aug-2008
A top businessman and some economists in Namibia are optimistic that the proposed Southern African Development Community (SADC) Customs Union will break down trade barriers in the region and create competition that will benefit the ordinary consumer.
Regional FTA to be born soon
5-Aug-2008
The signing of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Area is set for August 17, and member states want to walk into the signing occasion with all the fanfare and ceremony.
SADC free trade becomes a reality
1-Aug-2008
The long-awaited free trade area (FTA) for southern Africa will be launched on August 17 during the annual summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
’Doha Round talks undermining regional integration’
29-Jul-2008 Swazi Observer
The ongoing Doha round of World Trade Organisation talks is seen to be undermining regional integration and economic development efforts by African countries, analysts have noted.
SADC not ready for customs union: Tralac
20-Jul-2008 SABC News
Business chambers from southern Africa believe that talk of a single Southern African Development Community (SADC) Customs Union - that would replace the Southern African Customs Unions (SACU) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) - is premature until a SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) is fully in place.
Free trade on the horizon
2-Jul-2008
The launch of a SADC Free Trade Area in August this year will usher in a new era of economic integration with an enlarged market of more than 200 million people.
SADC’s Free Trade Area Bid On Course - Kalenga
1-Jul-2008
Southern African Development Community (SADC) is on course to achieving a free trade area by August 1 this year, the regional bloc’s trade adviser, Paul Kalenga has said.
FAO urges integration to boost prices in market
17-Jun-2008 Business Daily
To thwart a deepening food crisis on the continent, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation is proposing the creation of a Free Trade Area (FTA) for Africa that will facilitate a seamless flow of strategic commodities across national borders while maintaining high profit margins.
Whither regional integration?
21-May-2008
As a result of the free trade agreements with the European Union, called economic partnership agreements, regional integration in Southern Africa is in tatters. The question arises: what kind of integration would engender broad-based development?
SADC needs EU - Gurirab
30-Apr-2008
The Southern African Development Community countries need assistance and cooperation from the European Union to overcome development challenges in the spirit of partnership, said Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, at the first regional ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in the southern African region.
SA envoy clears mist on economic agreements
29-Mar-2008
Short-term benefits brought by Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) should not stand in the way of long term prosperity and integration of the SADC region, says South Africas High Commissioner to Botswana, Mr Dikgang Moopeloa.
’SADC Secretariat inertia worrisome’
29-Mar-2008
Southern African Development Community (SADC) chairperson, Levy Mwanawasa, has said member states and some international cooperating partners are dissatisfied with the SADC secretariat’s lack of capacity to absorb financial aid meant to help the regional body achieve its goals.
Crunch week for world’s oldest customs union
3-Mar-2008 Business Day
Sacu trade ministers meet in Gaborone with European Commission trade head Peter Mandelson tomorrow in a bid to break a stalemate over the economic partnership agreement the region is negotiating with the European Union. Mooted as an opportunity to harmonise the region’s trade arrangements with its biggest trading partner and deepen regional integration, the EPA has achieved the opposite. It has divided the region and is threatening to split it permanently.
Southern Africa: African nations endorse plan to merge trade blocs
19-Feb-2008 AllAfrica.com
Trade ministers from Comesa have passed a resolution setting the stage for the establishment of what would be Africa’s largest common market. The ministers want trade regimes within the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) harmonised.
East Africa: Ministers propose bigger regional trading bloc
13-Feb-2008 AllAfrica.com
East Africa’s trade ministers have proposed the formation of a larger trading bloc to eliminate friction among states over deals signed with partners outside the continent. The proposal made at a meeting of the Trade ministers in Arusha last week calls for the formation of a grand Free Trade Area (FTA) consisting of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc).
Malawi: Caught between two economic blocs
31-Jan-2008 IPS
Malawi finally has to face up to the dilemma of choosing between being a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) or to stick with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) if it is to continue receiving funding from the European Union.
SADC Free Trade Area comes into effect
9-Jan-2008 SABC News
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Area has come into effect as from the start of this year. This means most goods produced in the region can now enter member countries free of custom duties.
EU-SADC interim FTA (2007)
7-Dec-2007
Initialled by Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique on 23 November 2007