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Cape Town - Countries in the South African Development Community (Sadc) region need to come together to bargain for better inter- and intra-Africa trade, said minister in the presidency for planning, monitoring and evaluation Jeff Radebe.
Radebe was the keynote speaker on Friday night at the 17th annual conference of the Sadc Lawyers Association held in Cape Town over three days.
Altogether 15 countries, including Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho,, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritious, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, are currently Sadc members.
Speaking about the need to better synchronise trade, investment and legal practice across the region, Radebe said intra-Africa trade, which only accounts for 12% of Africa’s total trade, is an intolerable statistic in this day and age. “In fact, it is scandalous.”
Although it is laudable that Sadc states have entered into various bilateral and multilateral trading agreements to promote the movement of goods, Radebe said, it has resulted in a “spaghetti bowl” of regional free trade areas and customs unions arrangements.
“But there is a need to better harmonise this. We must recognise that our colonial legacy which introduced arbitrary borders and foreign legal traditions into our respective jurisdictions has made the issue of harmonisation of trade, investment laws an even greater imperative.”
Radebe offered a number of recommendations for improved regional integration:
- amend the Sadc Treaty;
- adopt harmonised community laws that are
directly applicable in the Sadc region;
- consider establishing a regional
legislative body that can act Sadc-specific laws; and
- empower the Sadc Tribunal to better oversee that harmonised law is applied and implemented across countries.
These recommendations, Radebe said, would “help unleash the full potential of the region so that skills development and job creation can be realised.
“It’s important that governments, businesses and all the related stakeholders join hands and collaborate with that of the legal profession,” Radebe said.
“Developing economies in the Sadc region may not have much control over the challenges that they face today, but that does not mean that they are powerless. Much can be done not just to sustain moderate growth, but also to secure a more prosperous and resilient future,” he said.
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