Why isnt there more trade between African countries?
The African Continent Free Trade Agreement came into force this year with the aim of creating a borderless market for services, goods and commodities worth trillions of dollars for the region.\nIt\u2019s a high ambition for the 54 nation bloc and the World Bank estimates that the new trade regime could unlock growth in income of up to four-hundred and fifty billion dollars. \nIt is expected to boost intra-African trade, generating millions of jobs for the continent\u2019s youthful population.\nBut little trade currently goes on between African countries and Bogolo Kenewendo, a former minister for trade in Botswana, says it\u2019s not just tariffs that have hindered the process. She says it\u2019s also about such things as product standard associations which are closely linked to colonial systems. She says for a country like Botswana it makes it easier to accept standard approved products from countries like the United Kingdom than it is from Uganda. \nThe former minister says that this means that \u201cinstead of seeing each other as allies, we\u2019ve seen competing sectors as just that, competing\u201d. \nIn Africa Daily Alan Kasujja looks at why more trade isn\u2019t being done between African countries and what needs to change.