The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIC) has announced that Mozambique’s tariff offer proposal, within the framework of joining the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), will soon be submitted to the Council of Ministers for analysis and approval.
The tariff offer is an instrument that contains information on the price of the products and services that the country will make available in the AfCFTA and which will be exempt from customs duties.
Speaking during a meeting to discuss the proposal with members of the Mozambican Chamber of Commerce (CCM), the national director of Foreign Trade at MIC level, Ali Mussá, explained that there must be massive participation by the private and public sector, cooperation partners, academics, civil society and other interested parties, so that all the rules are observed when setting the tariff offer.
“We should take a general approach to the criteria on the ratio defined for drawing up Mozambique’s tariff offer proposal. It’s important that all parties are involved, especially the private sector, since it will be responsible for the process of trade with other African countries,” he emphasised.
He emphasised that the country’s membership of the regional continental bloc would bring direct gains for the national business community, given that the African market has 1.3 billion consumers, and there is more space to place various products.
Last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area could lead to an increase of more than 50 per cent in trade between the continent’s countries and that, once operational, it would also have a significant effect on trade between Africa and the rest of the world, with an increase of 29 per cent in exports and 7 per cent in imports.
“The agreement to create the trade bloc provides for the gradual elimination of almost all customs duties over five years for the most developed countries and over ten years for the rest. It has already been signed by all the African countries, with the exception of Eritrea, and has been ratified by the vast majority, particularly the continent’s main economies, such as South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria,” he said at the time.
According to the financial institution, Angola, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé and Príncipe are the Portuguese-speaking countries that have also ratified the agreement.
The IMF emphasised that in order to achieve a positive impact, African states will have to accompany the implementation of the agreement with a series of reforms.
“To take advantage of all the opportunities, it will be necessary to invest in physical and human capital, create a solid macroeconomic framework (…) and modernise the social protection system to support the most vulnerable during the transition phase,” it said.
