MyJHB

Stuff from Johannesburg

AGOA, AfCFTA can be complementary

Advertorial:
AGOA, AfCFTA can be complementary:

Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wamkele Mene, says the United States of America’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) initiative and the AfCFTA can be complementary and supportive trade initiatives.

He was speaking at a media briefing on the side lines of the ongoing AGOA forum held in Johannesburg.

At its core, the American driven AGOA is aimed at enhancing market access for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa while the African Union’s AfCFTA is aimed at significantly boosting and enhancing intra-trade across every African states.

“An example of how that alignment can seize plot is if you study at the protocol on investment which establishes enhanced legal rights for investors but also enables countries to regulate investment inflows in the public interest. 

“Similarly in the area of intellectual property rights. The US TR [United States Trade Representative] under Ambassador [Katherine Chi Tai] has been very clear that they support reforms of the global patent system so that it is at the service of public health and at the service, in our case as the continent, at the service of industrial development and job creation. 

“These are some of the principles, we believe, should be considered where we are to maintain a discussion about trade and investment between AGOA eligible countries and the United States. These are some of the complementarities [between AGOA and the AfCFTA] that can be explored,” he said.

Mene said the continent must be “cautious not to create fragmentation within the AfCFTA as we implement AGOA”.

“In the AfCFTA there are countries in North Africa who are state parties to the agreement establishing the AfCFTA. There are also countries that are within AGOA eligibility. So that fragmentation, we acquire got to address it so that we don’t reverse the gains that we are making in integrating the economy of the African continent. 

“I’m very encouraged that the US is willing to listen and is sensitive to this need to progress on integration,” he said at the session.

The Secretary General was emphatic when asked about the possibility of AGOA becoming an obstacle for the implementation of the AfCFTA.

“It’s a technical issue. I don’t consider it’s really a political issue, it’s a technical issue about how we fabricate that legal technical alignment between the rules of the AfCFTA and AGOA.

“We are taking measures to ensure that the implementation of AGOA supports industrial development, supports regional integration [and] supports the objectives of the AfCFTA,” he concluded. – SAnews.gov.za

Read More at the Source

– MyZA

CLICK HERE to submit your news to www.MyPR.co.za.

Click here to submit your South African News – free.

Prepaid Meters: Straton Prepaid

Category: Tag: , ,

The Rand Club: Redemption

The “redemption” of the Rand Club is a fascinating mirror of the city’s broader transformation. In 2016, a group of businessmen and heritage enthusiasts stepped in to save the club from permanent closure. They didn’t just renovate the physical structure; they fundamentally “decolonized” the institution’s culture. Today, the Rand Club is a vibrant, multi-racial hub of Johannesburg’s intellectual and business elite. It has opened its doors to the public for events, tours, and as a co-working space for young entrepreneurs.

One of the most striking changes is in the art. While the walls are still lined with portraits of historical figures, they are now interspersed with contemporary African art and photography that challenges the old narratives. The club has transitioned from a secretive “fortress” of the colonial elite into a shared space for the city’s new generation of leaders. It remains a place where history is physically present—you can still sit in the same leather chairs where Rhodes sat—but the conversations happening in those chairs are now about the future of a democratic, African-led Johannesburg. It is a testament to the fact that even the most rigid institutions in “Joburg” must adapt or vanish.