Rwanda urges merger of EAC, SADC, Comesa

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame. PHOTO | FILE 

In Summary

• A tripartite agreement plan was launched in June 2015, in Cairo, where the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) was signed into effect, hence amalgamating EAC, SADC and COMESA. The three trade blocs had set the end of 2017 as the deadline for a merger.

By IVAN R. MUGISHA
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Rwanda says there is no urgency in joining the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and would instead focus on promoting a proposed merger between the East African Community (EAC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and SADC trading blocs.

Rwanda’s position dampens the anticipation created at the recently concluded SADC Summit in Pretoria, where delegates gave the nod to Rwanda’s admission following a normalisation of relations with Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda’s application was pending due to tensions with DR Congo – a core member of SADC.

Rwanda first applied to join SADC in 2005. The application was left pending for years prompting President Paul Kagame to at one time say the country had lost interest in joining the bloc due to the overlapping protocols it would face from memberships in multiple trading blocs.

READ: Tripartite FTA talks put back, Pretoria gets cold feet

Rwanda is a member of the EAC, Comesa and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

“We realised that there is no need for Rwanda to join SADC. The current debate is to merge EAC, SADC and COMESA into one tripartite trade area,” said Francois Kanimba, Minister for Trade and Industry.

“We need to establish a continental free trade area, starting with a tripartite agreement between the three major blocs. It is no longer viable for Rwanda to join another single economic grouping – especially one where it does not share a common border with most member states,” said Mr Kanimba.

A tripartite agreement plan was launched in June 2015, in Cairo, where the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) was signed into effect, hence amalgamating EAC, SADC and COMESA.

The three trade blocs had set the end of 2017 as the deadline for a merger. By March last year, 16 out of 26 nations had signed the agreement to combine the three trading blocs.

If implemented, a tripartite free trade area will open a market of 625 million consumers — representing more than 60 per cent of the continent’s total economic activities.

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