Local businesses called to participate in first AfCFTA export

Namibia will be sending its first consignment under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in March.

The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) has called on local businesses that have consignments ready to participate in the launch.
The consignments will be dispatched via the Walvis Bay port and by road transport.

The AfCFTA is an initiative of the African Union (AU) which aims to create a single market for goods and services across the continent.

The agreement commits AU member states to remove tariffs on 90% of goods, with 10% of sensitive items to be phased in later.

In addition, NCCI says the government is in the final stages of gazetting the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) tariff.

“We are pleased to announce that Namibia is in the process of officially announcing the gazetting of the Sacu Tariff Concession for implementation,” says NCCI.

The consignment is set for export during 1 to 18 MarchThe Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade signed the AfCFTA agreement in 2018.

Last year, industrialisation and trade minister Lucia Iipumbu said Namibia will benefit from a vast market of over 1.3 billion people through AfCFTA.

Iipumbu said Namibia is also actively working to enhance its domestic production capacity to meet the growing demand for goods and services within AfCFTA.

“Namibia is ready to tap into a single market of about 1.3 billion people, while growing at home and industrialising the local economy to produce goods and services with which to trade,” said Iipumbu.

She added that the Sacu tariff offer is in the process of gazettement by the Namibia Revenue Agency.

“The ministry has put in place the requisite legal and regulatory building blocks to fully industrialise Namibia; to strengthen its trade both locally, regionally, continentally and globally; and to vigorously enable small and medium enterprises to develop and flourish,” Iipumbu added.

The AfCFTA agreement aims to create a unified market across the continent and has been signed by 54 countries, with 46 nations having ratified it as a binding law.

Under the agreement, AfCFTA members are committed to eliminating tariffs on most goods and services over a period of five, 10, or 13 years, depending on the country’s level of development or the nature of the products.

On 13 January 2022, AfCFTA took a major step towards its objective with the establishment of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, which allows payments among companies operating in Africa to be done in any local currency.

Trading under the agreement officially commenced on 1 January 2021, and was followed by the AfCFTA-Guided Trade Initiative pilot programme in October 2022.

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