The Mozambican government hopes to ratify, by 2022, the agreement that creates the African Continental Free Trade Area (CAFTA) and, for this purpose, is working hard to prepare a tariff offer.
The offer will determine the terms and conditions of the country’s opening to the continent with all the challenges and benefits that the agreement entails.
The exercise presupposes a careful selection of goods and services deemed potential to participate in trade transactions competitively and duty-free in a continental market with 1.3 billion consumers and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around $3.4 trillion.
The tariff offer is being prepared in parallel with a study on the impact of the agreement’s implementation for the country, as well as its implementation strategy, a document that will bring recommendations that will be considered by the government for the final decision to ratify the agreement.
The process of preparing this guiding instrument was made public this Tuesday in Maputo by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Max Tonela at the economic roundtable between Mozambique and the European Union, where the experience of Europe as a continent with a long process of economic integration was shared.
“We have to analyze the most adequate ways to enter into the agreement, and it is in this framework that the Government has started a work of identifying the opportunities generated by the integration. At this moment we are discussing relevant aspects to develop a proposal for the ratification of the agreement and elaboration of the tariff offer,” said Tonela.
According to the governor, the continental integration will produce a positive impact on the economy, thanks to the elimination of tariff barriers in the access of national products to other markets, as a result of the increase in international trade, through a process that requires the active participation of the Mozambican private sector.
The government believes that the country will be able to take comparative advantages from continental economic integration in the communications, services, tourism and transport sectors
“This has the benefit of increasing trade, creating the growth and development of our country and better business opportunities. It will create investment incentives in national industry, an important factor for economic growth,” he explained.
In the Minister’s view, the Government believes that the country will be able to take comparative advantages in the continental economic integration in the communications, services, tourism and transport sectors, the latter being more attractive due to the country’s geographical location in the region.
To this end, it is urgent to improve port infrastructure, maritime cabotage services, corridor development, access roads and transport.
“Mozambique has economic sectors with very wide comparative advantages and it is in these sectors that we have to bet to take advantage of this integration,” he said.
The ambassador of the European Union in Mozambique, António Sanchez Gaspar, reaffirmed the commitment that the old continent has in helping the country to achieve economic growth through technical and financial support for its participation in a free trade zone in Africa, looking at the potential it has to compete in the market.
Mozambique will move towards ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement in an environment in which some sectors of the economy express their skepticism
“We want to put the European experience at the service of Mozambique. The European single market is the basis for the prosperity and stability of our continent over the last 70 years. Let’s see how we can help Mozambique prepare to make the most of the opportunities of creating a free trade zone in Africa,” he said.
It should be noted that the country will move towards ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement in an environment in which some sectors of the economy express their skepticism about the competitive advantages resulting from integration, claiming that Mozambique lacks the industrial capacity to compete with the continental giants.
As an argument, they say that the country has a similar agreement in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), but, so far, with little significance in practical terms.
