One of the reasons for the low level of investment has been poor coordination across the different trading blocs. Less than half of this target is met currently. It is estimated that Africa needs to invest nearly $100 billion annually in infrastructure over the next decade. Third, the TFTA will serve as an impetus for investment in Africa's cross-border infrastructure. With additional policies, such growth will contribute significantly to spreading prosperity and reducing poverty. At this rate the combined GDP of Africa is projected to reach $29 trillion by 2050, which would be equal to the current combined GDP of the EU and the US. Second is a much larger market whose free flow of goods and services will help to maintain economic growth at 6–7% per year. In fact, negotiations for an overarching agreement will be launched in 2015, with the projected creation of an Africa-wide free market in 2017. First, the conclusion of the agreement will generate the impetus for the creation of similar arrangements in western Africa, bringing economic powerhouses such as Nigeria into a continental free trade area. The TFTA will benefit Africa in at least six mutually reinforcing ways. The tariff liberation of 60–85% will have a significant impact in facilitate the cross-border flow of goods and services. It is 22% for South America, 40% for North America, 50% for Asia and 70% for Western Europe. The overall trade between the three areas rose from US$30.6 billion to US$102.6 billion over the same period.ĭespite the growth, only about 12% of Africa's trade is intra-regional. Over the same period trade within SADC grew from US$20 billion to US$72 billion and for EAC it rose from US$2.6 to 8.6 billion. To the contrary, the consolidation of the three trading blocs will build on previous trade gains and will result in the whole being larger than the sum of its parts.īetween 20 trade within the COMESA region grew from US$8 billion to US$22 billion. The area spans 17.3 million square kilometers, which is nearly twice the size of China or the United States.Ĭritics argue a single trading bloc will not work where individual sub-regional ones have failed. The TFTA covers a population of 632 million and a combined GDP of $1.3 trillion. It is a grand move to merge existing regional organization into a single African Economic Community.The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) includes the 26 countries that are members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC), and Southern African Community (SADC). The creation in June 2015 of a free trade area from Cape Town to Cairo is possibly the most significant event in Africa since the formation of the Organization of African Unity in 1963.
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