Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Listed: All the MVNOs in South Africa – 2025 edition

      19 June 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      19 June 2025

      WhatsApp founders hated ads – Meta is adding them anyway

      19 June 2025

      China’s car factories run cold as price war masks deep overcapacity

      19 June 2025

      Yellow Card, Visa in deal to hasten stablecoin uptake in Africa

      19 June 2025
    • World

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » Africa trade pact negotiators to fast-track e-commerce talks

    Africa trade pact negotiators to fast-track e-commerce talks

    By Agency Staff21 September 2020
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Negotiations for e-commerce and digital trade under an Africa-wide free trade pact will be fast-tracked as the coronavirus pandemic heightens the need for a legal and governance framework, according to the zone’s most senior official.

    The talks that were to have been part of phase 3 of what could be the world’s biggest free trade area will now take place alongside phase-2 negotiations on competition policy, intellectual property rights and investment protocols, said Wamkele Mene, the secretary general of the African Continental Free Trade Area. Discussions are expected to begin early next year.

    “We ignore digitisation at our own peril,” Mene told a virtual conference organised by the Stellenbosch, South Africa-based Tralac Trade Law Centre. “We have to develop a very clear and compelling strategy for how we can ensure that our trade under this agreement is more efficient, more dynamic and certainly more affordable.”

    E-commerce revenues in the sub-Saharan region grew by an average of 24% in 2019 with a quarter of the population classified as active…

    While e-commerce in Africa lags other regions, it is growing rapidly. E-commerce revenues in the sub-Saharan region grew by an average of 24% in 2019 with a quarter of the population classified as active, online-paying customers, according to an International Monetary Fund report.

    Talks on digital trade will include measures to harmonise and speed up customs clearance procedures between countries, Mene said. Delays at borders and regulations that differ from country to country slow regional commerce.

    The 54 of the 55 countries recognized by the African Union that have signed the agreement are also speeding up negotiations on the taxation of e-commerce platforms, Bloomberg Law reported, citing Prudence Sebahizi, chief technical adviser and head of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement Negotiation Support Unit.

    WTO moratorium

    These talks threaten to breach a World Trade Organisation moratorium on tariffs on e-commerce. WTO members agreed in December to continue the moratorium until a June ministerial meeting, but that meeting was cancelled over Covid-19 concerns and is now scheduled for June 2021.

    The first commercial deal under the free-trade area has been pushed out to 1 January from July after phase-1 negotiations on the protocol of trade in goods and services stalled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The talks are now being revived and moved online.

    The trade pact aims to bolster intra-African commerce agreement by lowering or eliminating cross-border tariffs on 90% of goods, facilitating the movement of capital and people, promoting investment, and paving the way for the establishment of a continent-wide customs union. When fully operational by 2030, it could cover a potential market of 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of US$2.5-trillion.  — Reported by Prinesha Naidoo, (c) 2020 Bloomberg LP



    top Wamkele Mene World Trade Organisation WTO
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleMicrosoft to buy Elder Scrolls developer for $7.5-billion
    Next Article Oracle’s TikTok deal is suddenly in doubt

    Related Posts

    SA may approach WTO over EU carbon border tax

    23 May 2024

    South Africa, India block major investment deal at WTO

    29 February 2024

    Worries SA could help kill global deal on tax-free e-commerce

    21 February 2024
    Company News

    Why parents choose CambriLearn for online education

    19 June 2025

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025

    Sage brings together HR leaders to explore the future of payroll and people management

    18 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.