Uganda Joins COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area

Uganda has signed a Trade Agreement to create a common market for easing
movement of goods across 26 African countries. The Tripartite Free Trade Area
Agreement was launched on Wednesday 10th June, 2015 at Sharm El Sheikh in
Egypt at the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government. Trade Minister
Amelia Kyambadde represented the President and signed on behalf of Uganda.

The Summit in Sharl El Sheikh followed the first Summit held in Kampala 2008
where the idea of the Tripartite Free Trade Area was born and the Second Summit
held in Sandston, Johannesburg in 2011 which launched the negotiations. It was
agreed that the negotiations would be conducted in two phases; phase I to cover
trade in goods and movement of business persons and phase II to cover trade in
services and other trade related issues such of competition, intellectual property
rights and cross border investment.

The beneficiaries of the Tripartite Free Trade Area are the member countries of
the three regional blocs of East African Community (EAC) and Common Market for
Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) of which Uganda is a member, and the
Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC).

The Tripartite Free Trade Area covers three aspects namely; market integration,
industrialization and infrastructure development.

The launch of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) opens up a wider market of
over 600 million people with the free movement of goods across the borders of
the three regional blocs. With the launch, goods from all the 26 member
countries will move duty free as the first phase of the implementation of the FTA,
and later there will be free movement of persons in the second phase.

The Tripartite FTA opens up more markets for Ugandan goods and services to be
exported duty free in all the 26 member countries. But this also implies that the
other 25 member countries will be exporting to Uganda duty free.