1609 Working Group News on Trade – September 2016
- East African Community says will delay signing trade deal with EU
The East African Community trade bloc will delay signing a trade agreement with the European Union, originally set for Oct.1. Kenya and Rwanda signed the agreement, but it needs approval from all members of the East African Community bloc to take effect. The EAC appeals to the EU not to punish Kenya by denying it access to the European market. Kenya stands to lose the most without the agreement. Member states Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda would continue to get duty- and quota-free access under the EU's Everything But Arms initiative, since they are classified as least developed countries.
2. What Brexit Means for Africa
On June 23th, the United Kingdom voted for getting out the European Union, a measure called Brexit, and it has provoked problems for the EU. The first problem is trade. The UK is one of the trade keys between Africa and Europe, so it means that some African countries perhaps prefer to continue trading with the UK than with Europe. We only have to take a look at the case of Tanzania. Another problem is aid, because the UK was one of the countries that provided most money to this aid programme, providing almost 2 billion euros. Another problem, and maybe one of the most important, is the influence in development debates, because since 1997 in the UK was created the Department of International Development. But the most important problem is that the population of the UK is worried about immigration and job, but the government is only worried about achieving free trade with other countries.
3. Evaluation on Cotonou Partnership Agreement
The European Commission has announced the results of its evaluation of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA). The European Union’s relationship with the ACP States has been governed by a number of agreements, dating back to the Lomé convention signed in 1975, aiming to support the ACP States’ efforts to move towards self-sustained development. The Cotonou Partnership Agreement was signed in 2000 for a 20-year period and will expire on 29 February 2020. It is a wide-ranging agreement that covers many policy areas under three pillars: the political dimension, economic and trade cooperation, and development cooperation.