Chaos over African EU Free Trade Agreement
Nigerian president Olusegun Ob...
Ministers of the East and Southern African (ESA) grouping are gathering in Brussels, Belgium, next week for negotiations with the European Union (EU). It remains to be seen whether talks will stall and be carried over to next year, or if an ‘‘EPA-lite’’ will be accepted. EPA-lite is an interium Free Trade Agreement.
First and foremost, there has been no meeting of minds about what constitutes ‘‘development’’. Both the EU and African countries have agreed that ‘‘development’’ sits at the heart of the EPA negotiations. Yet both sides are worlds apart translating what this means in practical terms.
The ESA countries, defining development as the strengthening of their industrial and agricultural production base, have pushed hard for the EU to commit to a list of development projects, with financial commitments attached.
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