Emmerson Njanjamangezi, Group Features Editor 
ZIMBABWE is still fine-tuning its tariff offer framework for member states of the African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This is despite the fact that Zimbabwe ratified the treaty in May 2019, becoming one of the earliest countries to embrace the deal as the government continues to search for new entry opportunities for local companies into the lucrative African market outside of its traditional trading areas.
The AfCFTA agreement came into effect on January 1, 2021.
A total of 54 of Africa’s 55 countries have agreed, in principle, to participate in the agreement, and 41 have submitted their tariff offers.
Only Eritrea remains as the sole outsider to date.
For trade to happen under AfCFTA, in addition to ratification, a country needs to make a tariff offer to its partners. The process includes stakeholder engagement within government and the private sector.
“Internal processes are still ongoing with other ministries and the private sector and once they are finalised a final tariff offer will be tabled before member states,” Industry and Commerce permanent secretary Mavis Sibanda told The Financial Gazette this week.
Though there has been a lot of buzz around AfCFTA, only 34 countries have officially signed it and only a few have ratified it to date.
In principle, a total of 15 countries need to ratify the agreement to enable its full enforcement on the continent. If successfully implemented, AfCFTA will be the largest free trade area agreement in the world.
The continental free trade area offers huge opportunities to grow intra trade between African countries, particularly after the devastating impact of Covid-19 on trade in most regions.
Africa’s intra-continental trade currently sits around the 17 percent mark. The United Nations has predicted that, on the back of the successful implementation of AfCFTA, that figure could rise to as much as 53 percent.
In contrast, the proportion of trade in Europe that takes place intra-continentally is around 60 percent.
Among a host of other positive impacts of AfCFTA, the free trade arrangement will likely be a significant catalyst of trade between African countries, while at the same time creating opportunity for participating countries to retain much of their forex flows within the continent.
According to the IMF, every week in sub-Saharan Africa, the region’s economies export about US$6,5 billion of merchandise, but only about one-fifth is destined for other countries in the region.
newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw
