Current Trends in the Economic Development of the Participating in the Tripartite Free Trade Area Regional Economic Communities

Eduard V. MARINOV

Abstract


Abstract. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community and the Southern Africa Development Community are three of the eight regional economic communities that are recognized by the African Union as building blocks of the African Economic Community. The three RECs recently concluded the negotiations to establish the Tripartite free trade area on a tariff-free, quota-free, exemption-free basis by simply combining their existing free trade areas. The multiplicity of trading arrangements in southern and eastern Africa, ranging from bilateral agreements between individual countries to free trade areas and customs unions, poses a huge implementation challenge to the deepening and development of the process of economic integration thus the creation of the Tripartite free trade area can be regarded as a step in the right direction. The paper aims at presenting the economic properties of the economies in the three RECs participating in the negotiations on the Tripartite FTA with a special focus on the analysis on intracommunity trade as an indicator for the current state-of-art and the perspective of the integration process in the three RECs. It presents the aims, principles and main challenges of the Tripartite FTA negotiations. Then it examines thoroughly the three participating RECs in terms of the economic properties of their member states and the trends in their international trade. Some conclusions are drawn on the integration potential of the participating RECs as well as on the possibilities presented by the creation of the Tripartite FTA.

Keywords. Tripartite FTA, COMESA-EAC-SADC, Regional economic integration, African economy.

JEL. F15, F55, N77.


Keywords


Tripartite FTA, COMESA-EAC-SADC, Regional economic integration, African economy

Full Text:


References


Abdel J.T. (1971). The relevance of traditional integration theory to less developed countries. Journal of Common Market Studies 9(3), 254-267. doi. 10.1111/j.1468-5965.1971.tb01001.x

Balassa, B. (1961). The Theory of Economic Integration. Richard D. Irwin. Homewood, Illinois.

Balassa, B. (1965). Economic development and integration. Centro De Estudios Monetario Latinoamericanos. Mexico.

COMESA, EAC and SADC. (2010). Draft agreement establishing the COMESA–EAC–SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area. December 2010 Revision. Lusaka, Zambia; Arusha, Tanzania; Gaborone, Botswana.

COMESA-EAC-SADC. (2011). Report of the Meeting of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Ministerial Committee in Preparation for the Tripartite FTA Negotiations. Lusaka, Zambia.

Economic Commission for Africa. (2011). Study on the Establishment of Inter-REC’s Free Trade Areas in Africa Drawing on Lessons from the COMESA-EAC-SADC FTA Experience. Addis Ababa.

Economic Commission for Africa. (2012). Assessing Regional Integration in Africa V. Towards an African Continental Free Trade Area. Addis Ababa.

Economic Commission for Africa. (2013). Report on International and Intra-African Trade. Adis Ababa.

Erasmus, G. (2013). Redirecting the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement Negotiations? Tralac Trade Brief No S13TB02/2013. Stellenbosch: tralac.

Haas, E.B., & Schmitter, P.C. (1964). Economics and differential patterns of political integration: Projections about unity in Latin America. International Organization 18(4), 705-737. doi. 10.1017/S0020818300025297

Hosny, A.S. (2013). Theories of Economic Integration: A Survey of the Economic and Political Literature. International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 2(5) 133-155.

Inotai, A. (1991). Regional integration among developing countries, revisited. Policy, Research, and External Affairs Working Paper, No. 643. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

Kalenga, P. (2013). Making the tripartite FTA work: issues and prospects. Tralac Trade Law Centre.

Lipsey, R.G. (1960). The theory of customs unions: A general survey. The Economic Journal 70 (279), 496-513.

Meier, G.M. (1960). Effect of a customs union on economic development. Social and Economic Studies, 9(1), 29-36.

Mikesell, R.F. (1965). The theory of common markets as applied to regional arrangements among developing countries. In: Inter-national Trade Theory in a Developing World, edited by Harrod and Hague. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Naumann, E. (2014). The Tripartite FTA: Background and Overview of the Progress Made in Developing New Harmonized Rules of Origin. Tralac Trade Brief No T14TB01/2014. Stellenbosch: tralac.

Ngwenya, S. (2014). COMESA, EAC, SADC Ministers Agree to Launch Africa’s Largest Free Trade Area. COMESA-EAC-SADC Press Release, Bujumbura, Burundi, 25 October 2014.

Othieno, L. & Shinyekwa, I. (2011). Prospects and Challenges in the formation of the COMESA-EAC and SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area. Research series No. 87. Kampala: Economic Policy Research Centre.

Sakamoto, J. (1968). Industrial development and integration of underdeveloped countries. Journal of Common Market Studies, 7(4), 283-304. doi. 10.1111/j.1468-5965.1969.tb00978.x

Stern, M. 2012. The Tripartite FTA and the Services Sector. SAIIA Policy Briefing 45. SAIIA.

TradeMark Southern Africa. (2011). Negotiating the COMESA‐EAC‐SADC Tripartite FTA. Aid-for-trade case story: UK, OECD.

Statistical sources:

African Development Indicators, World Bank, http://databank.worldbank.org/, accessed on 1.1.2016.

IMF DOTS, http://elibrary-data.imf.org/, accessed on 1.1.2016.

UNcomrade for WITS, http://wits.worldbank.org/, accessed on 1.1.2016.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1453/jepe.v3i1.598

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.




.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Journal of Economics and Political Economy - J. Econ. Pol. Econ. - JEPE - www.kspjournals.org

ISSN: 2148-8347

Editor: jepe@ksplibrary.org   Secretarial: secretarial@ksplibrary.org   Istanbul - Turkey.

Copyright © KSP Library