The Tripartite FTA and the services sector

This policy briefing examines the proposed Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) involving 26 member states from COMESA, EAC, and SADC, focusing specifically on the challenges and prospects of liberalising the services sector and the movement of business persons.

• The Tripartite FTA aims to integrate 26 countries from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), representing a combined population of over 560 million and a GDP of approximately $1 trillion.
• Negotiations are structured in two phases: the first focuses on goods, while the second covers competition policy, intellectual property rights, and trade in services. However, discussions on the movement of business persons are to be 'front-loaded' as a parallel track during the first phase.
• The draft agreement for trade in services is described as vague, committing members to liberalise 'priority sectors' subject to approved flexibilities and 'progressive' liberalisation for non-priority sectors, without providing specific guidance on the approach.
• Annex 12 of the draft text seeks to allow business visitors, traders, investors, professionals, and intra-company transferees to move freely without prior approval or numerical limits, but it fails to define the term 'temporary' for most categories.
• The draft text may provide a significant advantage to multinationals by allowing intra-corporate transferees in senior or technical positions to move without time frames or numerical restrictions, regardless of whether the business is registered within the region.
• The agreement does not address the mutual recognition of professional qualifications or accreditation, which remains a significant barrier; for example, South Africa provides little recognition for foreign training in law, accounting, and engineering, and prohibits the accreditation of African medical professionals.
• Existing national policies in several member states create barriers to expatriate staff, such as localization requirements in Botswana, personnel caps in Egypt (10% limit), and prior government approval for expatriate numbers in Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia.
• The proposed dispute resolution mechanism is limited because only member governments, rather than individual complainants or professionals, can initiate disputes.

APA

Stern, M. (2012). The Tripartite FTA and the services sector. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Policy-Briefing-45.pdf

Chicago

Stern, Matthew. The Tripartite FTA and the services sector. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2012. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Policy-Briefing-45.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stern |first1=Matthew |title=The Tripartite FTA and the services sector |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=February 2012 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Policy-Briefing-45.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stern2012tripartite, author = {Stern, Matthew}, title = {{The Tripartite FTA and the services sector}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2012}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Policy-Briefing-45.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }