Let’s give some sources to this so that if you have the sad task to write on it, you just have to click some links (thread)
First up: Trade Agreements. The EU has an EPA with SADC. That’s the Southern African grouping that includes South Africa and 6 other countries. Background here ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/c…
For West Africa an FTA provisionally applies for two contries. An EPA with 16 has been initialled, but is not in force. The regional groups are ECOWAS and WAEMU ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/c…
The EU Central African EPA currently seems to work for Cameroon only. Other countries from the region are free to join ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/c…
Eastern and Southern Africa (yup, geographically weird), an EPA is provisionally applied to 5 countries ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/c…
Next up: benefits that African countries get as developing countries. 34 African countries get duty-free and quota-free access for Everything But Arms (EBA). The countries are here trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/20… and the scheme is linked here trade.ec.europa.eu/tradehelp/ever…
But that’s not the only developing country scheme. Cape Verde participates in GSP+ trade.ec.europa.eu/tradehelp/gsp
And 6 African countries participate in Standard GSP. GSP is short for Generalized System of Preference, unilaterally granting preferential access to developing countries. Countries here trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/20… Program here trade.ec.europa.eu/tradehelp/stan…
But that’s not all folks. Africa is trying to have its own economic community. Yes. You will say. Don’t they already have some? Absolutely true.
There’s SADC sadc.int
And ECOWAS ecowas.int
There’s COMESA comesa.int
And yes, five others recognized by... the African Union au.int
African Union? Doesn’t that awefully sound like the European Union? Do they have a Common Market and Customs Union too?
Well, funny that you ask. Africa is on its way to establish a Continental Free Trade Area. I’d like to give you more details and link the agreement, but that’s sort of hard to find. I can give a link to the AU website on the CFTA au.int/en/ti/cfta/abo…
Of course, there are disputes relating to much of this: what’s the relationship between development policy and trade? Are EPAs fair? Is it OK for developing countries to be in FTAs rather than in GSP programs that give them benefits unilaterally?
Pre-Brexit all of these debates could be framed as: the evil EU does X. Post-Brexit we’ll find out that things are not as easy as we thought and there are choices to be made.
