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Prosper Ndlovu Business Editor
AFRICA has finally made a grand economic breakthrough with all systems set for the official launch, in June this year, of the largest regional tripartite Free Trade Area by heads of states under the Comesa, Sadc and EAC blocs, in Egypt.

The move marks a turning point in regional economic integration paving way for enhanced business efficiency and increased trade within the whole of Africa.

Comesa secretary general Sindiso Ngwenya told a gathering of regional insurance players in Bulawayo yesterday that the tripartite process would be a catalyst for the establishment of a continental free trade area by 2017.

“On the 10th of June we’ll have a tripartite summit of heads of states in Egypt to finalise the FTA and new trading rules. The tripartite arrangement is going to become a game changer for Africa in the sense that that it comprises 26 countries, almost half of the African Union and ultimately 27 countries with South Sudan coming on board,” said Ngwenya.

He said the tripartite FTA would provide the basis for the structural transformation of the economies through industrialisation and value addition.

There is consensus across the whole of Africa that industrialisation and value addition are key to massive job creation and poverty alleviation.

“After two and a half years of intense negotiations, the Comesa-EAC-Sadc tripartite sectoral ministerial committee held in Bujumbura, Burundi in October 2014 agreed that sufficient consensus had been reached to launch the Tripartite FTA.

“The tripartite summit of heads of states and government to be hosted by Egypt in Sharm El-Sheikh will now launch the tripartite FTA agreement on goods,” Ngwenya added.

The tripartite FTA has a combined population and gross domestic product of 625 million people and $1,3 trillion respectively that would constitute a single largest market.

Ngwenya said the decision to form a tripartite FTA, mooted in Uganda in 2008, was born after leaders from the three economic blocs realised that there were different trade regimes yet the economic operators and citizens simply want to have one common rule.

“We always talk about the cost of doing business in Africa. Some of the costs of doing business in Africa are a result of failure to harmonise our documentation and trade regimes,” he said.

Ngwenya said tripartite programmes were already in place with respect to standards and quality assurance of products.

“We also have the infrastructure pillar under the tripartite, which the different master plans for Sadc, Comesa and EAC have brought together. We’ve got a tripartite project preparatory unit that is hosted by the Comesa secretariat to oversee the process,” he said.

“The other pillar under the tripartite is the industrial pillar. Countries are very conscious that without industrialisation you may have one or two dominant economies that take advantage of the tripartite.”

The 38th meeting of the Comesa technical management committee was attended by representatives from six Comesa member states and Tanzania, who are members of the Yellow Card Insurance (YCI) scheme.

Delegates, who included Zinara board chairman Albert Mugabe and officials from the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe, discussed opportunities in the sector and made an assessment of the performance of the insurance scheme last year.

They also deliberated on investment options for the pool funds, operational manual and budget among other things.

The technical management committee consists of five countries, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Burundi, Kenya and Rwanda. Zambia attends because it is where the Comesa secretariat is based.

Tanzania is not a member of Comesa but is a member of the YCI. The YCI was established to provide cover for motor vehicles that belong to Comesa member states so that they can pass through the bloc’s borders without difficulty.

It covers compulsory motor insurance for member countries’ motorists when they visit each other’s countries.