Republic of Mauritius- Rules of Origin a key component of development in Africa

The Minister of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Nandcoomar Bodha, made this statement, today, at the launching of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Economic Development in Africa Report 2019 at the Air Mauritius Building in Port-Louis. According to him, the RoO should be made simple, flexible, transparent and business friendly for expected gains from AfCFTA to be realised. 

The Minister further said that preferential trade liberalisation among the members of the new AfCFTA is crucial if the continent is to seize the historic opportunity offered to boost trade between its economies. According to the report, intra-African trade stands at around 15% compared to 47% in America, 61% in Asia and 67% in Europe for the period 2015 to 2017, he indicated.

He recalled that AfCFTA is a landmark achievement in the continent’s history of regional integration and is expected to generate significant gains if the agreement is fully implemented. This will in turn contribute to an increase of 1% to 3%, in the Gross Domestic Product of most African countries once all tariffs are eliminated, he said.

According to the report, AfCFTA is expected to boost intra-Africa trade by 33%, attract more intra-African investments and create market opportunities to foster Africa’s industrialisation through regional value chains and also many of the gains can be undermined if the RoO are not appropriately designed and enforced to support preferential trade liberalisation.

Economic Development in Africa Report 2019

The Report analyses major aspects of Africa´s development problems and policy issues of interest to African countries. It also examines African economic development from global context, builds consensus at the international level on the challenges facing the African countries, and assists in the mobilisation of international support measures to promote economic development in Africa through research and policy analysis, capacity development, advisory services, and consensus building.