Dumbani Mzale, contributor, in Harare, Zimbabwe:
Intra-Southern African Development Community (Sadc) trade is still very low and below par, Sadc Executive Secretary Elias Mpedi Magosi has said.
Magosi said this in his opening speech at the 44th Summit of Heads of State and Government of Sadc at the New Parliament Building in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Magosi said at 23 percent, intra-trade within the 16-member trade bloc is growing at a snail’s pace and such a rate remains undesirable.
He said Sadc member states are not trading as much due to both tariff and non-tariff barriers (NTB), underdeveloped trade-related infrastructure, weak manufacturing capacity, and poor implementation of trade commitments.
“What it means is that we are trading more with the rest of the world than among ourselves… the status quo is not ideal and we must change,” he lamented.
To help reverse such a trend, Magosi said Sadc secretariat is currently compiling a database of top 10 imports and exports of all Sadc member states including Malawi as a way of improving access to markets and subsequently improving intra-trade within the region.
He also expressed hope that the Comesa-EAC-Sadc Trapartite Free Trade Area (FTA)—which entered into force in July 2024—will help improve intra-Africa trade while creating an integrated market covering 29 countries in eastern and southern Africa as part of a bold move by Africa to reform internal trade.
The TFTA creates a combined population of some 600 million people covering half of the member states of the African Union and a gross domestic product of over $1 trillion.
The enlarged market aims to promote the smooth movement of goods and services across borders, as well as allowing member countries to harmonise regional trade policies to promote equal competition.
Addressing the media on his arrival at Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe International Airport on Thursday, President Lazarus Chakwera stated that Sadc was capable of moving forward.
He said the region’s youth demographic was an important pillar in not just the growth of the region but that of the continent at large.
“Sadc is well poised with all of the human resources that are really about young people and innovation. They are the centre of it,” Chakwera said.
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