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By Magreth Nunuhe

Windhoek – Trade in Southern Africa is dominated by commodities, ores and metals, which make up the highest percentage of exports of goods, while the lowest percentage of exports is in finished goods ( manufactured).

For the majority of SADC Member States, the main export destinations are China, India, United States, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium. and the Netherlands. South Africa is the only exception as the dominant trading partner of other SADC countries.

This information, provided by the Maritime Profile (2017) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2017), indicates that most SADC countries do not trade with each other and do not bring value added to their raw materials for export. Only three Member States export the majority of their products in finished form.

The three SADC countries are Lesotho, with 67% of manufactured exports, followed by Mauritius (53%) and South Africa (42%) for finished goods.

Eswatini, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia export more than 70% of their products in raw form, mainly minerals and metals.

In terms of food exports, Malawi leads with 75% of SADC countries, followed by Comoros (66%), Seychelles (64%) and Zimbabwe (46%).

This reveals that important trade challenges are coming not only in Southern African countries, but also in intra-African trade, which is also in line with the report of the survey. Trade Finance in Africa released by the African Development Bank Group in September 2017, which revealed that Africa's trade is still dominated by international trade in other parts of the world.

The European Union accounted for 63% of total trade, 50% for North America and 52% for Asia in 2014, while intra-African trade accounted for only 15% of total trade the same year.

This week, the first African forum of National Trade Facilitation Committees was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 27 to 29 November, on "Strengthening the Public-Private Partnership for Trade Facilitation". African countries seeking ways to facilitate trade. .

More than 300 participants from the public sector, business, donors and regional and international organizations met to discuss the implementation of trade facilitation reforms, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

In particular, they discussed the role of African regional organizations and National Trade Facilitation Committees (NTFCs) in implementing the trade facilitation provisions in the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The agreement aims to create a single market for intra-regional trade in goods and services, representing more than 1.26 billion people, and a gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.14 billion US dollars.

The agreement provides trade facilitation measures tailored to the African context and aims to make import, export and transit procedures more efficient.

The implementation of AfCFTA will require a great deal of coordination between the different public and private actors at national and regional levels, in order to ensure coherence with the other relevant instruments.

The African Forum for National Trade Facilitation Committees in Addis Ababa intends to present proposals on how non-financial corporations could ensure a coherent approach in the implementation of trade facilitation reforms within the framework of the CAFTA, WTO, and ERA agreements and other regional agreements.

David Luke, coordinator of the Trade Policy Center for Africa at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said the meeting was a very important initiative for Africa and that It could represent 2.5% of GDP, or 65 billion US dollars for the continent. .

"It's an opportunity. This year, the CFTA – our way of doing things – is very clear: we guarantee a level playing field and we provide a framework to meet the challenges of trade facilitation, logistics, infrastructure and energy. " , did he declare.

Shamika Sirimanne, Director of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, said trade facilitation meant prosperity for all and helped reduce the costs of trade, save time and frustration for traders and businesses. to contribute to the modernization of public services.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has been assisting trade and transport facilitation reforms in developing countries for 40 years and aims to build strong public-private partnerships for trade facilitation, policy makers and policy makers. , customs officers and business representatives from more than 40 African countries.

United Nations Trade and Industry Commissioner Albert Muchanga said that all African countries see their country as their market, but that "their market is the African continent's free trade zone".

"When we transport goods without any rights, their price goes down. The average consumer will benefit from this process, "he added, noting that when tariffs are removed, traders can add value to their products, which will encourage an increase in manufacturing output on the continent.

"The 55 countries say" we want to remove non-tariff barriers after the entry into force of the agreement. We will put in place a pan-African non-tariff barriers monitoring mechanism so we can monitor in real time, which will also help us implement the World Trade Organization trade facilitation agreement. " said Muchanga.