JOHANNESBURG: South Africa had prioritised signing free trade agreements with other African countries as part of a wider agenda to encourage regional integration, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Friday. Following the recent signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between six southern African countries and the EU, Davies said that South Africa wanted to seal trade agreements with fellow African countries.
This was part of efforts to increase trade among African countries. The AU Summit, held in South Africa last year, marked the start of negotiations to establish a so-called Continental Free Trade Area by next year. “(Setting up the Continental Free Trade Area) is taking longer than anticipated,” said Davies, adding that infrastructure did not always link the respective African economies.
Speaking a week after six Southern African Development Community countries, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland, signed the EPA in Botswana, Davies said the agreement would lead to increased access to the EU of a number of South African agricultural products. He singled out increased access for South African canned fruit, wine, sugar and ethanol.
