Africa’s main trading bloc steps towards customs union
May 23, 2007 (NAIROBI) — Leaders from Africa’s main trading bloc on Wednesday endorsed a key step towards customs union, at the end of a Kenyan summit overshadowed by regional tensions.
Heads of state and government agreed on a common external tariff system after a 12-day meeting of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The deal calls on every member state to apply the same tariffs on goods from outside the region: free movement of capital goods and raw materials, a tax of 10 percent for intermediate products and 25 percent for finished goods.
“I’m encouraged to note that we have reaffirmed our resolve to take our regional economic integration to the level of a customs union by December 2008,” said Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, who took over the chairmanship of the bloc from President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti.
The 19-member bloc plans to launch a customs union at the end of next year, but experts have warned the deal may be delayed by some member states who fear their weaker economies could collapse.
However, Kibaki said that individual countries could apply separate rates to “sensitive” products to enable them to sign up to the tariff deal, a key part of customs union.
Member states will agree on the timescale for national tariff adjustments before the next COMESA summit in Zimbabwe in 2008, he said.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, shunned by the West for his recent opposition crackdown, was appointed vice chairman during the summit.
“While we rightly emphasize trade for our growth and development, it is equally important that we move towards trading what we produce,” he said in a closing speech.
“While external assistance can play a supportive role, ultimately its our own effort that will determine whether or not we achieve real and sustainable development.”
Participants also discussed regional peace and security, including efforts to set up a peace conference in war-torn Somalia, border tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and Sudan’s volatile Darfur region.
“The economic gains achieved by our countries and our aspiration for a better future for our people will continue to elude us if we fail to ensure stability throughout the continent,” said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who did not attend, in a statement Wednesday.
When it was founded in 1993, COMESA, representing some 400 million people, aimed for a free trade zone for all member countries from 2000, evolving into customs union by 2004 and monetary union by 2025.
But it has fallen short of its plans, with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Seychelles, Swaziland and Uganda yet to participate in the free trade zone and balking at the customs union.
COMESA groups Burundi, Comoros, the DRC, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
(AFP)