TDCA and SADC EPA : facilitation of market growth and integration or decline within SACU? : a critical analysis

Includes bibliographical references.Ever since African states gained their respective independences, regional integration has been at the highest realm of their goals. The states have since seen it as a solution to their slow growing economies and as a means of poverty reduction.1 It has been a very slow but enormous progression on the part of Southern African countries since the establishment of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) in 1910. These states developed and are still continuing to develop promising approaches to trade negotiations in both multilateral and regional economic negotiations 2 and agreements they have with the European Union (EU) such as the Southern African Development Community Economic Partnership Agreement (SADC EPA) and South Africa with the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) it has with the EU. SACU took it upon itself to bring into existence a common external tariff but the TDCA has proved to not take into account the concerns of the other SACU members namely Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS).3 The promotion of trade is mainly boosted by developed countries trading with developed and least developed countries extensively than it is by developing and least developed countries trading with their respective counterparts.4 This means developing and LDCs do not become part of regional integration economic groupings to promote trade. This is one of the main reasons why the agreements that these states conclude with the EU should be concluded in a way that boosts trade without encroaching on other states for such to be attained