Oscar Kimanuka
26 October 2008
column
Nairobi — News that 26 countries that make up three regional trading blocs -- the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community -- have agreed to form a single market is welcome indeed.
A single market with a combined population of about 527 million and a GDP of $624 billion, and more than half of the continent's industrial output, could change the face of Africa turning economic stagnation into opportunities for trade and commerce.
As President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya pointed out at the Tripartite Summit in Kampala, "A larger single market is a path through which we can contribute to poverty alleviation and employment creation in our region."
What is disturbing is why this realisation came so late. One cannot even begin to imagine the lost opportunities.
While there exists strong political will among the leadership of the three trading blocs, no one should pretend that the hurdles ahead are less than challenging.
For instance, there is a need for the regional trading blocs to harmonise and co-ordinate their trade arrangements before anything close to a trading bloc can be realised.
Now the three trading blocs must remove tariff barriers and agree on common rules of origin to widen their economic and trade cooperation and integration.
Multiple memberships that did not allow member states to have one collective voice that can advance these countries' interests on the international scene also need to be addressed.
Africa continues to grapple with the effects of high food and energy costs in addition to the current impact of global financial crisis.
This financial meltdown will undoubtedly affect our efforts at advancing the international agenda, not least, meeting the much-talked-about Millennium Development Goals.
Ultimately, when the three trading blocs have got their act together, a single market shall enable free movement of goods, people and capital and services across the entire region.
But we must first address the usually difficult and bureaucratic decision-making process and speed-up legislation if we are to implement a single market that will help our people exchange ideas, goods, services and capital across the entire region.
Oscar Kimanuka is a commentator on social and economic issues based in Kigali.
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