Notizie

Kenya National Assembly ratifies EPA with the EU

Giovedì 25 Aprile 2024 13:55

There are no translations available.

The National Assembly of Kenya approved a motion that ratified the EU-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed by the two parties on 18 December 2023. The ratification by Kenya of the EPA comes at a short distance from the deliberation of the EU Parliament, which during its plenary session of 29 February, gave its consent to the EPA to officially enter into force for the EU. Kenya, on the other hand, had to follow its own ratification process according to its national laws, and specifically, according to the provisions of the Treaty making and ratification act No. 45 of 2012, which foresees that the Cabinet Secretary responsible for matters relating to the Treaty to be ratified must submit it accompanied by a memorandum to the Speaker of the National Assembly for deliberation.

AfCFTA seen from another angle: critical flaws and possible risks

Giovedì 25 Aprile 2024 09:58

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A post published on the website bilaterals.org, a collaborative space that supports movements struggling against bilateral trade and investment deals which are accused to serve more the interests of corporations than people, raises concerns regarding the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and in particular regarding the Protocol on digital trade. We will not address all the points in the article, but at least a few ones deserve attention. The post has a very critical view in general of the AfCFTA and its Protocols, being in some cases overly pessimistic regarding the purported dangerous effects of this agreement. In any case, it also rases some interesting issues that deserve at least some attention.

WTO concludes sixth review of the trade policies and practices of Morocco

Martedì 23 Aprile 2024 07:37

There are no translations available.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has completed the sixth review of the trade policies and practices of Morocco. All the WTO members, including Customs Unions, have their trade policies periodically reviewed by the Organization in order to verify coherence with the basic WTO principles and rules. The frequency of such assessment varies depending on their share of world trade in goods and services.

New North African earthquake threatens the foundations of the African Regional Economic Communities system

Lunedì 22 Aprile 2024 08:58

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Regional Economic Communities, or “RECs” are a peculiarity and a feature of the African economic integration model. Some of them were existing already before the establishment of the Organization for the African Unity (OAU), the predecessor of the African Union, like in the case of SACU, a customs union that is considered the ancient in the world, or the Council of Understanding (Conseil de l’Entente), a West African regional co-operation forum created in May 1959 by Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Dahomey (now Benin), and subsequently joined by Togo in 1966. The Treaty of Abuja (1991) at art. 2.a introduced the principle of the strengthening of existing RECs and of their creation in the various sub-regions where they did not exist, defining them as foundation (“building blocks”) of the future African Economic Community (article 88). The role of RECs as building blocks of the African integration process is also reiterated in the last recital of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and by art. 5, which defines them as building blocks of the AfCFTA.

Plain-language glossary facilitates understanding of the AfCFTA

Giovedì 18 Aprile 2024 08:07

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In December 2022 we published a post titled “A glossary and a private sector mapping study to support AfCFTA implementation”, announcing the launch by the AfCFTA Secretariat, jointly with the International Trade Centre (ITC), of a publication titled “Understanding the African Continental Free Trade Area: a glossary”. The purpose of this booklet, which has now been made available on the AfCFTA Secretariat website, is to provide some historical context regarding the birth of the agreement, its objectives and status of implementation and, above all, to facilitate the understanding of the key concepts, legal provisions and technical rules at the basis of the AfCFTA Agreement and its complementary Protocols.