BY DELISA THWALA
LOZITHA – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged SACU members of the states to be intentional in their leadership.
Ramaphosa said an overview of SACU as an organisation; its operating main objective is to promote conditions for fair competition in the Customs area, initiatives.
“This is an important institution that was set up following the entry into force of the 2002 SACU Agreement is the Secretariat. The Agreement paved the way for the establishment of the Secretariat,”, he said.
The President encouraged SACU Member states to utilise their resources and create financial infrastructure.
“SACU needs to be strategic, and take advantage of opportunities opened up by ACFTA. Prioritise Financial infrastructure. Telecommunications, roads, water and airports. we need to diversify intra trade. Let us use our collective revenues,” he said.
He further said the SACU was meeting at a time when seismic shifts were taking place in the global economy.
Just as countries were beginning to recover in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global economy was further weakened by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and geopolitical contestation.
“As the Southern African Customs Union, we must fulfil our mandate if we are to withstand these global shocks and mitigate their impact on our respective countries,” he said.
Worth noting is that SACU is the oldest Customs Union in the world, having been founded in 1910.
The SACU agreement has undergone several changes and improvements over the years to better reflect the prevailing political and economic environment.
Ramaphosa said they have always been deliberate about using this Union as a vehicle for advancing and deepening integration.
“We are working to achieve this integration through cooperation in trade and industrial policies. We seek to build cross-border value chains among all SACU Member States, underpinned by regional infrastructure Programmes,” said the President.
In addition to that, he said the geopolitical and economic shifts taking place across the world necessitate that SACU must be quite intentional about what they hope to achieve.
“ We must be quite deliberate when it comes to playing a developmental role in the region, on the continent and globally.
At the recent Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, Africa spoke with one voice about the need for industrialised countries to meet their commitments to developing economies,” he said.
RAMAPHOSA NOT CONTENT WITH AFRICA’S SHARE IN THE GLOBAL TRADE
….which is a mere 3 per cent
BY DELISA THWALA
LOZITHA – “We cannot be content that Africa’s share in global trade is a mere three per cent,”
These were South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s sentiments when addressing the 8th SACU Summit held at Mandvulo Grand Hall in Lozitha today.
He said this Customs Union should contribute to substantially increase African trade in goods and services.
“We will achieve this if we have clearly articulated programmes, sufficient resources, a robust governance framework and a commitment to execute the Strategic Plan,” said Ramaphosa.
He further said, SACU should continue to serve as an important instrument for deepening African economic integration as they strive to develop economies, advance mutual prosperity and leave no one behind.
In addition to that, Ramaphosa said, nearly all countries present agreed on the need for reform of multilateral development and financial institutions.
“Ultimately, we strive for a world order that accommodates developing economy countries by having rules in respect of access to capital, sovereignty and the right to develop our industries. The SACU Strategic Plan adopted in June 2022 is the foundational document that executes the aspirations of SACU,” he said.
When drawing to the end of his address, Ramaphosa said as SACU they must work to deepen regional integration in the Customs Union and deliberately forge stronger ties among the five Member States.
South Africa believes that spatial development initiatives, industrialization, exports and investment promotion and regional manufacturing linkages will enable our countries to diversify our economies. It will also enable an advantage of opportunities opened up by the African Continental Free Trade Area. “For this to happen, we should prioritise economic infrastructure, especially scaling up renewable energy capacity, We must discuss what we can do to diversify our economies, increase intra-Africa trade and deepen integration,” he said.
