TANZANIA will strive to promote intra-Africa trade, an important initiative that presents opportunities for sustained growth and development.

Intra-African trade has the potential to reduce vulnerability to global shocks, contribute to economic diversification, enhance export competitiveness and create employment.

This was said by the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ms Maria Bilia, at the workshop on boosting the intra-Africa Trade held in Dar es Salaam.

“The country’s initiative to be a member of the regional communities expresses its deep desire to promote and boost Intra-Africa Trade that could in return help in transforming the economy,” she noted.

The government is committed to remove all internal trade barriers which have staggering the free flow of investments into the country due to high cost of doing business.

The most recent initiative is the decision to execute the Single Custom Territory in the East African Community (EAC), with an ultimate goal of creating free movement of goods in the region and reduce the cost of doing business. The Single Customs Territory will come into full implementation next month.

Tanzania membership in the EAC and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has bolstered the country’s competitiveness in export trade due to the large market size present in the regions.

Boosting Intra-Africa Trade for the African countries has an ultimate goal of creating a wide market as well as a continental free trade area. Speaking on the benefits of Boosting Intra-Africa Trade for Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), Dr Halima Noor Abdi said the countries forming up the regional groupings have reaped enormously scaling up economic growth.

For example, with the intra-EAC trade, exports have increased to 3.17 million US dollars in 2012 compared to 2.17 million registered in the preceding year.

Tanzania and Rwanda recorded the highest growth of 49.9 per cent and 323.2 per cent, respectively. Similarly, total intra-EAC imports have increased to 2.31 million US dollars from 1.91 million US dollars in the year before.

Tanzania exports to SADC increased by 22 per cent to 2.33tri/- the year 2012 from 1.91 tri/- in the previous period, mainly on gold and cashew nuts.

She added that Tanzania has great potential to harness its competitive advantage of the EAC and intra-Africa integration process. “This is an opportunity for the country to encourage and attract investments in order to boost economic growth,” she added.

Source: Daily News

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