African trade integration is still a far way off, envoy tells Parly

JOHANNESBURG - African states are progressing with trade regimes that are past due in a bid to bolster trade within the continent, Deputy Director General at the Department of Trade Industry and Competition’s Trade Policy, Negotiations and Cooperation branch Ambassador Xavier Carim told Parliament on Tuesday.

The European Union remains South Africa’s largest trading partner, with 24.5 percent of the country's total exports, and taking on 29.7 percent of SA’s total imports in 2019.

The Covid-19 outbreak presented challenges to trade and countries closed up their borders at the height of the pandemic.

However, the virus spread more slowly through the African continent that it did

through much of Europe and the United States.

Carim told Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry that Africa's share of world trade was small, at about 2.6 percent in 2018.

He said intra-Africa trade grew to 16.1 percent of Africa’s total trade in 2018, but this was low compared to intra-Asian trade (59 percent), intra-North American trade (48 percent), and intra-EU trade (67 percent).

"Although intra-Africa trade is low, Africa is by far the second-most important export market for most African countries, behind the EU. Seven African countries count Africa

as their main export market and 25 count Africa as their second-most important market," said Carim.

Carim said over three-quarters of intra-African trade takes place within regional trading blocs, with intra-Africa trade largely in value-added manufactured products.

Carim said SA accounts for 23 percent of total intra-African trade in imports and exports, while African countries were the destination of 26.5 percent of all SA’s exports in 2019, driven largely by the Southern African Development Community region.

– FIN24.