Botswana ratifies the Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement

Botswana becomes the 8th country to deposit the instrument of ratification for the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA Agreement). The other countries that have ratified the TFTA are Burundi, Kenya, Egypt, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, and Namibia.

The TFTA was launched in June 2015 to integrate into an enlarged Free Trade Area (FTA) the economies of the Member States of three Regional Economic Communities (RECs): namely, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMSEA), the East African Community (EAC), and Southern African Development Community (SADC). Its aim is to reduce the existent obstacles to trade in the RECs that stand as a deterrent to industrial production and the movement of people, goods and services.

The TFTA is based on three main pillars: market integration, infrastructure development and industrial development. Priority tripartite instruments and programmes include an online mechanism for reporting, monitoring and eliminating Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), and a Tripartite Transport & Transit Facilitation Programme aimed to develop harmonised road transport policies, laws, regulations, systems and standards in the East and Southern African (EA-SA).

More on the TFTA Agreement