UN African Economic Official on Impact of Economic Instability in Zimbabwe

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa-Southern Africa (UNECA-SA) has said the prevailing political and economic instability in Zimbabwe could derail the effective launch of a regional Free Trade Area (FTA) in August this year.

Zambia Daily Mail quoted the sub-regional office director, Jennifer Kargbo, as saying Lusaka Sunday that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has therefore planned measures to ensure that the FTA launch is not derailed by the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe.

The political tension in some parts of the region maybe worrisome but this is not new to us. SADC will find a way of dealing with such problems--be it from politics, economics or social--a solution will have to be found, Kargbo said.

She said there was need to keep the faith to ensure that the launch succeeds because the FTA could balance the food deficit and surplus among member states.

She was speaking ahead of a meeting of senior policy makers and experts from Southern Africa.

The meeting, which is part of the annual intergovernmental committee of experts of the ECA-SA starts Lusaka Monday.

The theme of the meeting is "Achieving Free Trade Area and Customs Union: Emerging challenges and opportunities for Southern Africa."

ECA-SA would analyze and compare with other FTAs around the world by bringing together various issues.

Kargbo said SADC has a protocol that recognizes various levels of strength of economies in relation to the customs union launch.

Moreover, measures have been put in place to compensate member countries whose revenue base will be affected due to the removal of tariffs.

Kargbo said overlapping membership with SADC and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) would not affect the FTA.

She said there will be no problems with the FTA but advised that towards Customs Unions, countries will have to deal with issues of dual memberships.

SADC and COMESA have set up a task force looking at complications of overlapping membership. The task force will deal with conflicts arising from dual membership. However, harmonization is key in dealing with overlapping membership, she said.

And ECA-SA head of regional integration and macroeconomic policy, Alfred Latigo, said that the issue of some member countries facing civil strife was contentious.

But with the milestones being undertaken by SADC and the African Union, the region will still go ahead to launch the FTA in August. Zimbabwe is a special case. But there is a plan within SADC to ensure that nations lagging behind can catch up through compensation once they remove tariffs, he said. 

 

 

Source: CRIEnglish