Business Daily (Nairobi)
Allan Odhiambo
24 January 2008
A policy battle is looming at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa over a recent decision by some African countries to sign interim trade deals with Europe.
Trade experts said the pacts, which were signed between some regional trading blocs and Brussels, are against the drive for Africa's unity.
Though leaders across the divide acknowledge the importance of the interim trade agreements, there has been concern that the pacts portend a "divide and rule tactic" by Europe that is against the long-term interests of the continent.
Opponents of the interim pacts point to the disquiet that has emerged in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) where some member states entered into agreements with Europe to the exclusion of others. This, they say, could befall other trading blocs.
Although Comesa has been pursuing joint trade deals with the EU under the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) platform, only nine of the 16 member states have signed new pacts with Brussels- under separate platforms.
This has prompted the bloc's Secretariat to raise the red flag over the threat that such moves by member states pose to its future. Comesa is now demanding an urgent review of the interim pacts to forestall a possible fall out among member states.
A recent meeting of Comesa's Regional Negotiation Forum (RNF) held in Lusaka, Zambia, described the situation as "grim". Its verdict was that the interim arrangements were potentially dangerous to Africa's regional integration agenda.
"It was agreed that ESA should consider ways of preserving its regional integration objectives by ensuring co-ordination and harmonisation of negotiations with Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC) groupings," the forum said.
The meeting further directed the Comesa secretariat to conduct an urgent assessment of the different interim agreements signed by members with a view to co-ordinate regional integration programmes by April, 2008. It further urged the secretariat to step up its Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations at the AU Summit.
"The Comesa secretary-general or ESA Council chairman should make a submission to the AU on how EPA should not undermine regional integration," the forum said. It has emerged that the AU leadership has now invited Comesa's top organs to make a presentation at the Summit in Addis Ababa to "enlighten leaders on what is at stake" following the signing of the interim pacts in the run up to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) December 31, 2007, deadline.
"It is true we have been invited to the Summit to present a paper on our experience on the post interim trade deals with Europe and we shall be going there to state our position," Comesa secretary-general Erastus Mwencha told Business Daily.
Observers said the Comesa presentation could add impetus to the strong opposition to the interim pacts led by the President of the African Union Commission Alpha Oumar Konare, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki. The trio have criticised the selective signing of trade pacts as posing a threat to Africa's unity.
Based on the case study presented by Comesa, the AU could flex its political muscle and leverage to propose a review of the provisions of the interim pacts in the run up to the signing of comprehensive EPAs later this year.Of interest to the AU will be the exclusion from the final agreement certain clauses that are deemed to work against regional integration efforts in Africa.
Besides, the AU is also said to be keen on a final pact that will ensure that all members duly benefit from development assistance packages that comes with the EPAs.
Mr Mwencha said although the interim deals had helped countries like Kenya to avert disruption of trade, they had failed to address the critical aspect of development and instead driven wedges among African states.
"Our understanding is that the interim trade pacts largely addressed market access. The development component is very weak. Everybody is not happy with what came out from the Brussels talks," he said.
Mr Mwencha gave the example of Europe's Euro5 billion development assistance offer to the Comesa region in the next six years against a costing budget of Euros 27 billion.
"They are not willing to talk of any extras on development and instead cite the EDF (European Development Fund) which has always been in existence. There is nothing new," he said. "This is why we need to take hard decisions now and not wait to regret later."
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